The War is Over
by Holz9364
Summary: Hermione Granger is a successful Deputy Minister for Magic in her mid 20's with a 5 year old daughter and no Husband when a chance meeting in St. Mungo's turns her life upside down. Rated T just in case for language in future chaps.
1. A Chance Meeting

**The War is Over  
**

**Chapter 1 - A Chance Meeting  
**

_**A/N - Hello! This is a Hermione/Draco fic, which is weird for me considering my other HP fics are Severus/Hermione & Harry/Draco but nonetheless!  
**_

_**PLEASE READ: this story won't be updated that regularly, once a month probably, but it will only be around 20 chapters long, it isn't going to be a long fic :) and I promise not to leave it unfinished! :)  
**_

_**The title is from the Kelly Clarkson song of the same name :)  
**_

_**DISCLAIMER: I own nothing!**_

* * *

When Hermione Granger walked into the accident and emergency room of St. Mungo's she was a wreck, but being Hermione Granger she was trying her best not to show it. Her 5 year old daughter had a pretty deep cut on her forehead and although Hermione had tried her best to stop the bleeding she knew it needed to be examined properly.

Rose was curled up in her Mother's arms because she didn't want to walk and that in itself was enough to worry Hermione. She sighed deeply, and told the Nurse at the desk what was wrong, she said because Rose was a child they had priority and said someone would be with them as soon as possible.

Hermione walked over and took a seat, she kept Rose in her arms, afraid to let her go, the little girl curled in closer to Hermione and whispered, "Mummy, my head hurts."

"I know sweetie." Hermione said gently, placing a hand on her daughter's cheek, "But the Healer is going to examine you as soon as possible and he'll make it all better."

Rose nodded slightly, "I want to go to sleep Mummy." She said, and this was what had worried Hermione, she knew with a head injury she couldn't let her daughter fall asleep which was why she'd brought her here partly. Hermione sighed, she felt sorry for the poor girl, "I know, but you can't sleep just yet, after you've talked to the Healer you'll be able to sleep."

Rose sighed and said okay, knowing even when she wasn't well not to cross her Mother, Hermione bit her lip, glancing up at the sound of her name, a Nurse smiled at her and beckoned for her to come over, Hermione lifted Rose and followed the Nurse into a small room, "You should have said you were Hermione Granger." She said, "You wouldn't have had to wait at all."

Hermione would normally have chuckled at such a comment but with her daughter in such a state all she could muster was a smile, "Thanks for getting us seen so quickly." She said kindly and the Nurse just said it was no problem as she left to get the Healer.

Hermione placed Rose gently down on the bed and sat there, stroking her hair until a tall man with a receding hairline and glasses walked in. He smiled briskly at Hermione and asked what had happened.

Hermione explained, "Rose used under-age magic by accident and she smashed the living room window, a shard hit her in the head and she's been saying that she's sleepy ever since." She couldn't keep the worry out of her voice.

The Healer ran a few tests with his wand and said, "The cut is a little deep, but nothing harmful." He removed the makeshift bandage Hermione had put on and with a couple of charms he had cleaned and sealed wound up, "We'll give her some pain potions and keep her in overnight just in case." He said, and Hermione breathed a sigh of relief that it wasn't anything serious.

The Healer waved his wand a few more times so that Rose was drifting off to sleep from the pain potions, at least after a little nap she'd feel better. The man who had seen to Rose handed Hermione a few sheets of paper, and she looked down at them with a frown.

"What are these?" She asked as the Healer handed her a pen.

"One is a form to sign your daughter into the hospital, one is for insurance and the last one is a parental permission form for a psyche consult." The Healer rattled off, as if he'd said and done all this before and just wanted to be elsewhere.

Hermione raised her head in alarm, "A psyche consult? Why would she need that?" She asked.

"It's customary because of the dangerous incident of under-age magic, especially if it's happened more than once; often such events are caused by stress." The Healer drawled, again sounding bored, Hermione sighed and signed all three forms, Rose had been under a lot of stress lately. She handed them back to the Healer and he left without as much as a goodbye.

Hermione sat down in the comfy seat by Rose's bed and just watched her sleeping, she looked peaceful, and Hermione wished she'd look like that more often. She wasn't sure how long she sat there for but the room got lighter and lighter as the sun came up.

Rose's accident had happened late the night before, by the time they'd gotten to St. Mungo's it was after midnight. For the first time since the accident Hermione felt hungry so she asked a Nurse to bring some breakfast for she and Rose, the Nurse happy obliged when she recognized Hermione and it made her want to roll her eyes.

"Mummy?" Came a soft voice from the bed, Hermione looked up and smiled, "You're awake Rose." She said happily, "How do you feel?"

Rose smiled, "Better." She said, sounding happy too.

"Are you hungry?" Hermione asked and when Rose nodded she handed her a tray of food.

They talked for a little while, about meaningless things like Quidditch and the new toy she'd seen in Diagon Alley. After about half an hour the door to their room opened and a very familiar man walked in.

This familiar man didn't notice Hermione because she'd been in the bathroom attached to the room when he came in and he was already by Rose's side when she emerged.

"Good Morning." The man said, with a smile that looked odd on his face, "You must be Rose." He said kindly. Rose nodded with a smile and the man said, "I'm Healer Malfoy, but you can call me Draco." He said.

Hermione watched with a smile as Draco Malfoy interacted with her daughter. He had a box out and from it he pulled some toys, there were some men, women, a few children and some pets.

Draco said, "Now, do you think you'd be able to show me what you're family looks like with the toys?" He asked, and Hermione frowned, was this a social work visit? Her parenting was fine.

Rose nodded eagerly; she grabbed one of the child figures of a little girl with brown hair and said to Draco, "This is me." She then grabbed the woman who also had brown hair and said, "And this is my Mummy."

"Good." Draco said, "And what about this man? Who's he?" He asked as he handed the man to Rose.

Rose looked thoughtful for a minute, "He's Uncle Harry." She said brightly.

Draco nodded, smiling at her still, "Okay Rose, that's good." He said, "And who is Uncle Harry? Is he your Mummy's brother?"

Rose shook her head, "He's my Mummy's bestest friend." She said.

"And does Uncle Harry live with you and your Mummy?" Draco asked, putting the toy figures back into the box.

Rose shook her head, "He lives with Aunt Ginny, but he visits every weekend with James and Albus."

The light seemed to go off in his head at that moment as to who Rose was but he didn't say anything, he couldn't of course to Rose. Draco just continued with his tests, "I'm going to say a sentence now and I want you to finish it for me, is that okay?"

Rose nodded again, sitting up straighter in her bed, Draco said, "I like it when my Mummy…"

Rose looked thoughtful for a moment before saying, "Makes cake!"

Draco chuckled, "I don't like it when my Mummy…"

"Tells me off." Rose said, making a face.

Draco continued, "Okay, now can I ask you some questions about your Daddy?" He asked.

Rose nodded, the smile gone from her face, "Does your Daddy live with you and your Mummy?" He asked.

Rose shook her head, "My Daddy lives in America, I don't remember him but my Mummy says that's a good thing."

"Alright." Draco said slowly, he then asked, "Are you upset about anything right now? Anything at all?"

Rose bit her lip and looked down, almost shyly, "I'm upset when my Mummy's upset."

"And is your Mummy upset now?" Draco asked, taking a few notes.

Rose nodded, "She's always upset when one of her dates doesn't like her." She explained, "And I think it's my fault they don't like her."

Hearing that broke Hermione's heart and she stepped forward, not even looking at Draco, "Of course it's not your fault sweetie." Hermione said gently, "You're a wonderful little girl and anyone would be lucky to know you, Mummy just doesn't meet the right people is all." She kissed Rose on the forehead and Rose smiled at her, "Sorry Mummy."

"You have nothing to be sorry for Darling." Hermione said gently, and she finally looked at Draco, he was watching her in surprise; he caught her eye and smiled, "Could we talk for a moment outside Miss. Granger?" He asked.

Hermione told Rose she'd be back very soon and left the room with Draco. The moment they got outside Draco smirked, "So it's true, the deputy minister of magic is in the hospital."

Hermione rolled her eyes, "Who cares, what did you determine from psyching my daughter then Malfoy?"

Draco frowned a little, "I think the incident was caused by stress, and I do have to ask, what happened with her Father?"

Hermione sighed, looking away from her old enemy for a moment, "When Rose was two I confronted my Husband about his affair, he admitted to having one and handed me divorce papers, I signed them and he left, he's been playing Quidditch in America ever since."

"Weasley…" Draco realised and Hermione nodded, "Do you think it's had some sort of traumatic effect on her?"

Draco nodded slowly, "It might have." He said, "But if she was only 2 she's not likely to remember it well or even remember having a Father or what it was like before he left."

"That's what I thought." Hermione said in agreement, "So you think it might be that she's upset because of the fact my taste in men is awful?"

Draco smirked, "That hasn't changed about you then." He teased, "Although Viktor Krum was a pretty good catch, I'll give you that."

Hermione shook her head in amusement, "I'm serious Malfoy, is she going to be alright?"

Draco nodded, "I think she'll be fine, just try not to talk about Weasley in front of her, and go on dates with nicer guys." He said, joking about the last part.

"I'll keep that in mind." Hermione said with a smile, Draco smiled back, "I sympathise you know, I have a son, he's the same age as Rose and my wife died when he was 1 and a half, in some ways its better, they can't miss what they don't remember, right?"

Hermione nodded, "Yeah." She said softly, surprised at Draco sharing something like that with her, he smiled again, "I have to get back to work, it was nice seeing you again Granger."

"You too Malfoy." Hermione said as she watched him walk along the corridor, and she'd meant it, as odd as it was, it had been nice to see him again.

* * *

"Uncle Harry!" Rose squealed happily as Harry Potter walked into her hospital room and hugged her tightly, grinning Harry handed the girl a cuddly toy.

"It's a unicorn! Now all I need is a hippogriff!" Rose said in excitement as she held the toy close to her, Harry smiled, "I know, maybe you'll get one for your birthday." He hinted, winking at his Goddaughter.

"You spoil her Harry." Hermione said in amusement from her seat next to the bed, Harry laughed and kissed Hermione on the cheek, "I know." He said, before sitting down next to her and asking, "How is she?"

Hermione replied to her friend, "She's fine, the cut was deep but it's all sealed up, she had to get a psyche consult."

"Psyche?" Harry asked in disbelief, Hermione bit her lip and lowered her voice as she said, "Yeah, the underage magic is caused by stress apparently, Malfoy said it was because she's stressed about me getting frustrated with all the stupid men in my life."

"Malfoy?" Asked Harry in confusion, "What the hell does Malfoy have to do with any of this?"

"Oh, he was the one who did the psyche consult, he works here, I think he does social work or something but he was really good with Rose." Hermione explained, Harry still had a look of distaste on his face though, he and Draco had sort of called a truce after the War but that didn't mean they got on.

"He's still a git." Harry said, and Hermione shuddered as the thought of how much he sounded like Ron there passed through her mind, Harry noticed and looked slightly guilty, he knew it was hard on her being a single parent and remembering the way things ended with Ron. When the War ended they'd seemed perfect, meant to be almost.

"He's a git whose wife died when his son was a year and a half old, give him a break Harry." Hermione said quietly, so Rose wouldn't hear, her voice was a little colder with Harry but she wasn't really that angry with him.

"Really?" Harry asked in surprise, "That's really horrible." He added and Hermione was glad to hear the guilt and sympathy in his voice, he had Ginny, he'd never known how hard it was to raise a child alone.

"I know." Hermione said simply, the chill no longer in her voice which Harry was glad to hear, Harry was about to apologise when a Nurse walked into the room, she smiled at Hermione. "Hello deputy Minister for Magic." She said brightly, this annoyed Hermione to be addressed as such.

"Hello." Hermione said all the same, Harry announced he'd brought clothes for Rose to change into and 10 minutes later Rose was changed and steady on her feet. As Hermione talked to a Nurse and signed all the discharge papers for Rose she had failed to notice that her daughter had wandered off a little to talk to a boy of her age.

"Hi, I'm Rose!" The brunette said happily to the boy, he turned around and smiled, "Hi." He said in return.

"Why are you in the hospital?" Rose asked the blonde boy conversationally.

"My Dad works here." The boy said, adding, "My name is Scorpius."

"My Mum works at the Ministry." Rose said and Scorpius made a face, "My Dad doesn't like the Ministry."

"Why not?" Rose asked defiantly, "It makes the Wizarding world safe!"

Scorpius shrugged, "My Dad says all they do is let the Daily Prophet write lies."

"That's Rita Skeeters fault." The smart 5 year old said, she talked to her Mother all the time and listened carefully to all her conversations with her Uncle Harry and Aunt Ginny.

Scorpius seemed to be equally smart, "My Dad hates her, she once wrote that my Dad only cared about being famous but he isn't even famous and he doesn't even want to be famous."

"I think my Mums famous." Rose said thoughtfully, "People are always happy to see her, and they smile and ask her to sign things, they always call her a weird name. My Mum once caught Rita Skeeter in a jar."

Scorpius's eyes widened, "Really? She fit in a jar?"

Rose nodded, her eyes wide too, "Yeah!"

"Cool!"

"I know!"

Hermione had finished signing the papers and turned to Rose who wasn't there, her heart started to beat fast as she looked around the waiting room, she finally saw her, she was standing talking to a small boy with blonde hair, as Hermione approached the pair she was vaguely aware of a man approaching from the other side of the room.

"Rose! What did I tell you about wandering off?" Hermione said at the same time as a familiar voice said, "Scorpius, you were supposed to wait in the cafeteria!"

Hermione and Draco both looked up, surprised to see the other person there, "Oh, this is your son?" Hermione asked as Draco took Scorpius's hand, Draco nodded, "This is Scorpius Abraxas Malfoy." He said with a small smile at his son.

"He looks like a mini you." Hermione said with a chuckle, Draco laughed too, "I could say the same about your daughter." He said, and it was true, Rose did have the traditional Granger bushy hair and her hazel eyes, she didn't have any Ron in her at all, Hermione was often very thankful of that.

"Well, we'd better head off; I'm sure Rose needs to get to her bed and rest." Hermione said as she took Roses hand and wondered where Harry had gone.

Draco nodded and Hermione turned to leave, she'd taken about 3 steps when Draco called, "Granger?"

Hermione turned around and was surprised to see Draco looking a little uneasy, "Yes?"

"Would you and Rose like to come by the manor on Saturday for an evening meal?" Draco asked, he looked quite vulnerable and Hermione was incredibly shocked that he'd even ask, was it a date? No, he was asking if Rose wanted to come too.

Hermione stood for a moment, shocked and confused, she had been on so many dates and they had all gone wrong, even the dates that had gone right had gotten bad when he dropped her off and found out she had a child. Draco understood and Hermione appreciated that, was it worth taking a chance on him? She hovered for a second over the line of yes and no before eventually smiling at Draco, "Yes, we'd love too." She said politely.

Sometimes in life you have to take chances to create opportunities.

**TBC.**


	2. Letters & Limelight

**The War is Over  
**

**Chapter 2 - Letters & Limelight  
**

Hermione left St. Mungo's with a smile on her face, she was holding Rose's hand and Harry was giving her suspicious glances as they made their way to the apparition point.

'Do you want to come back to Grimmauld Place?' Harry asked when they finally got to the queue for the apparition point.

Hermione smiled at her best friend, 'That would be great Harry,' she said, 'I don't think I'm quite ready to go home and try and mend the window just yet.'

'I'm sorry Mummy,' Rose said quietly.

'Don't be sorry Rose,' Hermione said as she picked her daughter up, 'you couldn't help it. Would you like to go back to Uncle Harry's house?'

This seemed to cheer Rose up instantly, she nodded eagerly, 'I want to show Albus my bandage!' she said brightly.

Hermione chuckled, 'alright then,' they reached the front of the queue, 'Uncle Harry will take you,' she said she handed her daughter over to Harry who smiled at his Goddaughter and apparated to the doorstep of Grimmauld Place. Hermione followed soon after.

'Harry you're back!' Ginny called as she rushed up from the kitchen, she smiled when she saw him putting their Goddaughter down, 'Rose! We were very worried about you,' she said as Rose hugged her.

'Mummy was worried about me too, she was crying,' Rose said and Hermione shook her head in disbelief, 'that girl is far too smart for her own good,' she murmured as Rose hurried off upstairs to find Albus.

Ginny smiled at her friend, 'like her Mother then,' Hermione smiled sheepishly and followed Ginny into the kitchen, 'how is she?' she asked as they sat down at the table. Harry had followed Rose upstairs to make sure the children didn't cause too much mischief.

'She's fine,' Hermione said with a smile, 'she used accidental magic so I'll have to fix the living room window when I get home, but the cut was healed and there's only a small scratch left that will be gone in a day or so.'

'That's good,' Ginny said as she started to make a pot of tea, 'Harry and I were both worried when we found out she was in St. Mungo's, did the press see you?'

Hermione shook her head, she hated having to worry about the press all of the time, 'no, thankfully not, I don't need them to start publishing stories about the fact my daughter spent the night in hospital.'

'I know,' Ginny said sympathetically, 'how much longer are you going to keep this up Hermione? You keep saying you're going to take that vacancy at Hogwarts.'

'I know, and I will after the Ministers term ends,' she said truthfully to her close friend, 'I just don't want to leave him when his term only has 4 months left.'

Ginny nodded with a small smile, 'you'd better actually do it,' she said jokingly, 'I know you love that job.'

'I'll love working at Hogwarts just as much,' Hermione admitted as Ginny placed a cup of tea in front of her and sat down, 'thanks Gin.'

Ginny smiled, 'so did she get a psyche evaluation at the hospital?'

Hermione nodded, Ginny worked as a Medi-Witch at St. Mungo's so of course she would know about it, 'yeah, I was worried at first, I thought it had something to do with my parenting.'

Ginny shook her head and sipped from her tea, 'don't worry, it's the standard thing to do when a child under 11 uses accidental magic, it's just to try and figure out the cause so it doesn't happen again.'

'The Healer who did the psyche evaluation was Malfoy,' Hermione admitted to her friend, she was aware of the small smile on her face, 'he was great with her, he said he thinks the cause was stress.'

'Did you not know that Malfoy worked there?' Ginny asked in surprise, 'I thought you dealt with the hospital side of things for the Minister.'

'I do,' Hermione said thoughtfully, 'I deal with a lot of the hospital stuff, but I only really talk to the Head of St. Mungo's, I don't know much about the staff. I've been on 4 visits to the hospital for Kingsley and I've never seen Malfoy there.'

'Well, he's worked there for a while,' Ginny said casually, 'I mean he was there when Albus was born.'

'Hmm,' Hermione said thoughtfully, Ginny added, 'he's a senior Healer now, he specialises in paediatrics and he does most of the children's psyche evaluations.'

'How do you know all of this?' Hermione asked in surprise, looking at her redheaded friend suspiciously.

Ginny shrugged, 'I work in the paediatrics department Mione, he's pretty much my boss's boss, I see him from time to time.'

'You've never mentioned it,' Hermione said, not really knowing why.

'You know how Harry is, it's not important at the end of the day. Why are you so obsessed with him all of a sudden anyway?' Ginny asked, narrowing her eyes at her friend.

Hermione felt that silly smile form on her face again, 'He asked me on a date, I think, I mean I don't even know if it is a date, it-'

'Hermione!' Ginny interjected with a chuckle, 'get to the point.'

Hermione blushed faintly, 'he asked if Rose and I would like to by the Manor this Saturday.'

'Oh my god Hermione!' Ginny exclaimed with wide eyes, 'what did you say?'

Hermione smiled sheepishly, 'I said yes...'

'Are you sure that's a good idea?' Ginny asked straight away, with wide eyes, 'I mean...the war was only 7 years ago Hermione, can you handle being in that place again?'

Hermione frowned slightly, 'I hadn't even thought about that,' she said honestly, 'it really didn't cross my mind.'

'Well you will probably only see the hallway and the dining room,' Ginny said honestly, 'and if he has any sense he'll close the door to the ballroom.'

'I'm sure I'll be fine Ginny, a lot has changed since the war,' Hermione said, trying to reassure her friend.

'He was still a Death Eater Hermione, and he bullied you for years, are you sure taking your daughter on a dinner date with him is a good idea?' Ginny asked cautiously, Hermione knew that Ginny was just looking out for her.

'I know he was, but there was just something different about him,' Hermione said, still smiling, 'and he has a son who is Rose's age, they got on so well when they met at the hospital today.'

'Do you know about Malfoy's wife?' Ginny asked as she sipped tea and watched Hermione carefully over the rim of her mug.

'Yeah,' Hermione said with a sad look in her eyes, 'she died when his son was just 2, it's awful, but I feel like I can relate to him because of what happened with Ron, you know?'

Ginny nodded with a slightly distant look in her eyes, 'have you heard from him at all?' she asked her older friend.

Hermione shook her head, 'No, not a thing since he left 3 years ago.'

'He didn't send a birthday card for Al,' Ginny said with a sigh, and Hermione shrugged, 'well if he won't send a card to his own daughter, I can't say I'm surprised.'

'Yeah, I just wished he'd come around,' Ginny said sadly, 'he just seems to have forgotten all about us since he hit the big time.'

Hermione shrugged and drank her tea silently; she didn't particularly like talking about Ron.

'So what are you going to do on Saturday?' Ginny asked after a moment, breaking the silence.

'I have no idea,' Hermione said, 'I don't even know if it's casual or smart.'

'Go for a nice medium,' Ginny advised with a smile, 'and don't worry so much about it. You never just say yes to dates like that, you obviously saw something in him, and you should always trust your instinct.'

'Thanks Gin,' Hermione said with a smile, she glanced at the time and stood up, 'I'd better find my child and get home, that window really needs fixed or my house is going to start looking like a wildlife sanctuary.'

Ginny laughed and got to her feet too, she hugged Hermione, 'good luck with the date on Saturday, I want to hear all about it.'

'We'll set up a lunch date for Sunday,' Hermione promised with a smile as she and Ginny made their way upstairs to where the children were playing in the drawing room. James was the same age as Albus and Rose for the moment, but he would turn 6 in February, he was lying on the sofa playing wizard chess with Harry. On the hearth by the fire Rose and Albus were chattering away about something, and in a small play-pen in the centre of the room 2 year old Lily was happily playing away.

'Did you have a nice chat ladies?' Harry asked playfully as his Wife and best friend entered the room.

'Yes, we did,' Hermione said, she gave Ginny a glance that told the redhead she didn't want Harry to know about her 'date' with Draco Malfoy just yet, he'd been too busy talking to someone to notice the little chat they'd shared in St. Mungo's.

'Come on Rose,' Hermione called to her daughter, the little girl reluctantly came away from Albus and looked at her Mother with a pout.

Hermione rolled her eyes, 'you'll see Al tomorrow Rose, Aunt Ginny's looking after you when I'm at work.'

'Fine,' Rose whined reluctantly, she held out her hand and let her exasperated Mother take it.

'Bye Harry,' Hermione called across the room, 'bye James.'

Harry and James gave Hermione a casual wave at the same time and she smiled, 'Bye Al!' she called to Harry's youngest son, the 5 year old waved goodbye enthusiastically. Hermione called to the baby, 'bye Lily!' and got a mumbled 'bye bye!' from the little girl. She then turned to the door where Ginny was standing, 'thanks for the chat Gin, I'll see you Sunday, I won't have time to chat when I drop Rose off tomorrow, my day is so packed.'

'Is Harry dropping her off back at your place for you tomorrow night?' Ginny asked as she accompanied Hermione and Rose down the stairs to the front door.

'Yeah, I don't finish until 7pm tomorrow, I'm sorry,' Hermione said, she felt guilty because she worked 3 days a week, and sometimes weekends. Ginny only worked 2 days during the week and worked weekends so it meant that Rose would end up being looked after by the Potters 3 days a week, but Hermione only ever watched the Potters occasionally on weekends when Molly and Arthur were busy. Harry and Ginny always insisted that they didn't mind, but she hated feeling like she was burdening them.

'Don't worry about it Hermione,' Ginny said with a smile, 'I remember how it was when I was doing my training, you watched the boys all of the time and they were really little then.'

Hermione smiled back as they reached the door, they hugged goodbye once more and Rose also hugged Ginny then Hermione and her daughter left the house and Hermione apparated them back to their flat. Hermione and Rose lived in a flat in London, the flat was beautiful and although Hermione earned more than enough to own a large house, it was perfect and just enough for herself and Rose. The flat was on the ground floor and the living room opened up to a large back garden for Rose to play in. The living room was huge and decorated in a rather old fashioned way. It looked Muggle to the untrained eye, but then there were books with titles like 'Magical Drafts and Potions' or 'Advanced History of Magic'. Then there were pictures on the walls that moved, and pictures in photo-frames that moved. There was an old fashioned open fireplace in the centre of the room, which may have otherwise looked ordinary if not for the pot atop the mantelpiece with the words 'floo powder' engraved upon it. There were other little things, like the trophy on the mantelpiece with the words 'Junior Quidditch Champions: London East: Rose Granger, chaser.' One of the few things Rose had gotten from her Father was her fondness of flying, although Hermione could also credit that to the amount of time she spent with Harry and his Quidditch mad children. The flat had a large open plan kitchen and two bedrooms, a fairly standard bedroom in which Hermione slept, and an overly pink bedroom with lots of Quidditch posters where Rose slept.

'Mummy, what are you going to wear on your date with Healer Draco?' Rose asked calmly as she watched her Mother repairing the living room window.

'Stay back Rose,' Hermione said sharply, 'I don't want you to get hurt by the glass, go play in your room.'

Rose sighed and huffily made her way through to her bedroom. Hermione continued to repair the window, trying not to worry about her 'date' with Malfoy. She still didn't know what she was going to wear, even after her talk with Ginny. As Hermione cleared away the glass she contemplated wearing a dress, but quickly discarded that idea and the wondered about wearing jeans and a t-shirt, but then she discarded that idea too. By the time she had restored the living room to its normal state Hermione had no idea what she was going to do on Saturday and only felt more nervous about it. She sighed and made her way into the kitchen, 'Rose!' she called and her daughter immediately came running into the room.

'Are you hungry?' Hermione asked as she looked through the cupboards for something to eat.

Rose nodded, 'can I go back into the living room Mummy?' she asked as she glanced through the doorway.

'Yes, the glass is all gone now,' Hermione said as she finally found some steak pie at the back of the freezer and put it in the oven. She followed her daughter into the living room, leaving the potatoes to peel themselves over the sink.

'Healer Malfoy said the accident with the window was because you were sad about the men I've been going on dates with, is that true Rose?' Hermione asked her daughter as she sat down on the sofa with a book.

Rose didn't look up from her book, 'No Mummy, I wasn't sad about the people, I was sad because you were never happy.'

Hermione felt a little teary as she sat down next to her daughter on the sofa, 'Don't be silly sweetheart, I'm always happy when I'm with you.'

'Why are you sad when you come home after your dates then Mummy?' Rose asked, looking up slightly sadly at her Mother, 'I don't like it when you're sad.'

'I'm only sad because none of them are good enough to be a great Dad for you,' Hermione said gently, 'and I promise to try not to be sad anymore, okay?'

Rose nodded and looked back down at her book, after a moment she looked up again, 'Mummy?'

'Yes Rose,' Hermione said as she got to her feet.

'Will Healer Draco make you happy?' Rose asked innocently and Hermione smiled at her daughter, 'maybe Rose, but we'll talk about that later, okay?'

Rose nodded and Hermione made her way back into the kitchen to prepare dinner, she sighed when she was out of Rose's sight. She hated it when her daughter worried about her, it was supposed to be the other way around, she was supposed to worry about Rose.

* * *

When Hermione woke up early the next morning she wasn't surprised that Rose was already awake and sitting at the table eating a bowl of cereal. Hermione knew that wizarding children matured faster than average children, but even so Rose was very intelligent for her age and had been since she had learned to talk and walk.

'Mummy the owl came with the paper,' Rose piped up cheerfully as she handed her Mother the day's edition of the Daily Prophet. Hermione smiled at her daughter, 'thank you honey,' she said as she made herself a bowl of cereal and sat down at the kitchen table with Rose.

'Theres a picture of you in the paper again Mummy,' Rose said, sounding sad about this. Hermione knew her daughter hated the fact that her Mother was in the paper all of the time. Hermione sighed and looked down at the front page of the paper to see why she was being talked about today and gasped in surprise when she saw the article.

'_DEPUTY MINISTER FOR MAGIC SPENDS EVENING AT HOSPITAL WITH DAUGHTER'_

As she continued to read the article her heart sank.

'_The Deputy Minister for Magic and war hero, Hermione Granger, spent a night in hospital with her daughter this reporter heard. Miss. Granger's daughter was admitted for a head injury believed to be caused by accidental magic. Accidental magic is almost always a by-product of a distressed child. So is our Deputy Minister as pure as she seems? Lately the Deputy Minister has been photographed on many disastrous dates with famous men such as Viktor Krum. Does our Minister neglect her daughter? Watch this space.'_

Hermione didn't even need to check, she knew that the article had been written by Rita Skeeter. Next to the article was a picture of Hermione leaving the hospital with Harry and Rose. What she wanted to know was how the press had found out the details of what had happened to Rose, someone at the hospital must have gone to the Ministry. For a moment she wondered if it had been Malfoy, but then she quickly pushed the thought from her head and threw the paper in the bin, maybe a little too aggressively. Hermione tried to eat her breakfast, but she found she'd lost her appetite.

'Come on Rose, we're going to Aunt Ginny's,' Hermione said eventually, once she had decided eating was definitely not an option. Hermione still had a lot on her mind as she and Rose floo-ed to Grimmauld Place.

* * *

As Hermione and Rose emerged from the fireplace in the kitchen of Grimmauld Place, Hermione was instantly accosted by Ginny.

'Hermione! Have you seen the paper?' Ginny asked urgently.

Hermione merely sighed, 'yes, I've seen it,' she said simply, 'Rose, go upstairs and find Al,' she added to her daughter. Rose didn't waste any time in running out of the kitchen to find her best friend.

Ginny forced Hermione into a seat even though she really didn't have much time to get to work; Harry was already there, Aurors did start earlier than anybody else at the Ministry.

'How did the papers find out?' Ginny asked, and Hermione knew it was the first thing her friend would ask, 'I don't know, but I can only assume somebody at the hospital took it to the press, there are wards to prevent anybody in Animagus form entering the ministry or the hospital, so it can't have been Skeeter.'

'Do you think it was Malfoy?' Ginny asked, jumping to the obvious conclusion very quickly.

Hermione looked slightly affronted, 'No, I don't,' she said firmly, 'it's not like he would need the money, he's rich enough already.'

'What about out of spite? Maybe he just did it out of spite,' Ginny suggested and Hermione sighed, 'Ginny, what about Doctor/Patient Confidentiality? He could lose his career over it, I doubt he'd risk that just to get an article about me in the paper,' she rolled her eyes, 'besides he knew much more than that, he knew about Ron from Roses psyche, if it was him it would have been much worse.'

Ginny seemed to believe Hermione because she stopped coming up with things to blame Malfoy for. Hermione got to her feet, 'I need to get to work or I'll be late, I'll speak to you on Sunday.'

Hermione got back into the fireplace and made her way to the Ministry. The second she got to her office the press bombarded her, she took a deep breath, it was going to be a long day.

* * *

When Hermione got back from work she just wanted to crawl into bed and not get out, she'd had the day from hell. Hermione sighed and dumped her hand bag on the sofa. She'd been sitting down for less than 5 minutes when the floo came to life and Harry made his way through with Rose.

'Hi honey,' Hermione said brightening up as her daughter rushed over to her and gave her a hug.

'Hey Mummy,' Rose said brightly, 'today Al and me played a joke on James and he hit Al in the face! It was so cool!'

Harry rolled his eyes, 'I don't condone violence Mione,' he said with a smile, 'they both got sent to their bedrooms for an hour.'

Rose nodded, 'and Aunt Ginny baked with me!'

'I'm glad you had a good day,' Hermione said happily, 'would you like to stay for coffee Harry?'

Harry smiled, 'I'd love too,' he said, as Hermione made her way into the kitchen, Harry followed her and said, 'I'll make it Hermione, you look exhausted, sit down.'

Hermione sighed in relief and sat down at the kitchen table, 'it's just been a long day.'

'I saw the paper, I'm sorry,' Harry said as he put the kettle on.

'Yeah well I spent most of today trying to keep the press out of my bloody office,' Hermione said darkly, she rested her head in her hands. Rose hadn't followed them to the kitchen; she was probably reading a book in the living room.

'I know the feeling; I spent the first year as an Auror avoiding the bloody vultures. If they do it again tomorrow come and get me, I'm sure a pissed off chosen one will scare them off,' Harry said playfully as he put a cup of steaming hot coffee down in front of Hermione.

'Mummy says that's a bad word Uncle Harry!' Rose said from where she was peering around the door to the living room.

Hermione shot Harry a look, 'yes Rose, it is a bad word,' she said as she smacked Harry lightly around the head.

'God woman, you're still doing that after all of these years!' Harry said as he rubbed his head and pretended that it had hurt.

'Mummy! You say hitting is bad!' Rose exclaimed.

'Yeah Hermione!' Harry chipped in, 'hitting _is _bad!' he playfully hit her hand and Rose said, 'Uncle Harry!'

Hermione and Harry rolled their eyes at each other and Rose came out with the best line yet, 'Mummy, you say rolling your eyes is rude!'

'For goodness sake girl,' Harry said to his Goddaughter, 'act more like a kid, on you go, play with dolls or something.'

Rose rolled her eyes, an amusing sight given that she was only 5 and said, 'I don't play with dolls Uncle Harry, I play with Potions kits,' she then walked out of the kitchen towards her bedroom.

'That girl is scary smart, what kind of chaos is she going to cause when she goes to Hogwarts?' Harry asked jokingly and Hermione chuckled, 'Merlin, I don't even want to think about it.'

Harry smiled and drank some of his coffee, 'oh I meant to say Hermione, we're having a bit of a get together on Saturday, Luna is back in the country for a few days so we thought we'd all get together and meet up. It's just a nice dinner at Grimmauld Place.'

'Oh,' Hermione said, she felt guilty straight away, Luna travelled all over the place and Hermione didn't get to see her very often, but she'd made plans with Malfoy and Rose was looking forward to it so much that she didn't want to ruin it for her.

'Well, I-' Hermione began to say, but then her daughter came back into the kitchen.

'We can't come Uncle Harry because we're going to Healer Draco's house so I can play with my friend there, and because Mummy says he makes her happy,' Rose said, completely oblivious to the effect her words would have.

'Healer Draco?' Harry asked Hermione, 'as in, Malfoy? The bloody ferret?'

'No swearing Uncle Harry!'

'Rose, go to your room,' Hermione said quickly and Rose huffed off once more.

'As in, Healer Draco, the guy who treated Rose,' Hermione said, glaring at her friend, she knew he'd react like this.

'You want to go and have lunch with Healer bloody Malfoy more than you want to see Luna?' Harry asked in astonishment, he was also annoyed, as Hermione knew he would be.

'Well I only found out just now that Luna's coming back! Its Friday today Harry! I can't be available all the time for when she decides to stop running around bloody Africa!' Hermione said, raising her voice as she got angry with her friend.

Harry's face was slightly red as he too got angry, 'She's one of your best friends Hermione! You should make time for her!'

'Harry, I made a commitment when Malfoy asked me to dinner and Rose gets on with his son and she's excited. It isn't fair to just cancel that, not to Rose or Malfoy, or his son for that matter,' Hermione said, still glaring at the boy-who-lived.

'Since when did Malfoys feelings matter? I bet his sons just as scummy a git as he was at that age,' Harry said nastily and Hermione slapped him across the face, 'Harry you don't get it! His wife is dead and he's raising a kid on his own, you have Ginny, you just don't get that! The war is over! Stupid high school grudges don't matter anymore and if you're going to act like Ron then get the hell out of my house!'

Harry was silent for a moment, 'I'm sorry,' he said, 'Merlin, I did sound like Ron, that's a scary thought.'

'Your temper is gonna get you a broken nose one day,' Hermione said, then added, 'oh wait...'

Harry rolled his eyes, 'Guess I deserved that one...'

'The broken nose or the comment?' Hermione asked with a small smirk.

Harry considered this for a moment, 'Both,' he replied, 'and by the way, I got that broken nose from the guy you're planning on shagging tomorrow night!'

Hermione gave him a sharp glare, 'nobody said anything about shagging; besides Rose is coming with me!'

'So? His house is big enough,' Harry said obliviously and Hermione shook her head in disbelief, 'have you ever grown up Harry?' she asked with a laugh, Harry just smirked, 'nah, growing up is overrated,' he said with a chuckle.

'Well,' Harry said as he stood to leave, 'have fun on your...' he paused, 'date,' he then made a face of disgust, 'with Malfoy, if that's possible. If he tries to kill you, just let me know.'

'Right,' Hermione said with a smile, 'I'll be sure to do that, and if my dead body washes up anywhere, then you can say I told you so, although I probably won't hear it.'

Harry chuckled and called into the bedroom, 'Bye Rose! Have fun tomorrow!'

'Bye Uncle Harry!' Rose shouted back and with a smile Harry headed into the living room to floo back to Grimmauld Place.

Hermione kissed him on the cheek before he left and had only just sat down again in the living room when an owl pecked the patio doors. Hermione sighed and was about to stand up to let it in when Rose hurried through shouting, 'I'll get it!'

Hermione smiled as Rose hurried into the living room and stood on a box to reach the handle of the doors. She opened it and let the owl fly in and then she took the letter and gave it a treat from the little box by the window. The owl hooted gratefully and took off once more.

'Mummy this letter is for you,' Rose said as she handed one letter to Hermione, 'and this one is for me!'

Hermione glanced at the letter, it said 'Rose Granger' in messy children's writing and the address had been neatly written by an adult. Hermione smiled, these were obviously from Malfoy and Scorpius.

The letter to Rose was actually a drawing of a big manor house and under the house it appeared Scorpius had tried to write, 'see you tomorrow.'

Rose happily pinned the picture onto the notice board in the kitchen and Hermione opened the letter from Draco.

'_Dear Granger/Deputy Minister for Magic/Hermione (how do you address someone you called Granger & other assorted insulting names at school and haven't seen since? Let's stick with Granger for now.)' _

Hermione giggled out loud at the first line of the letter, something that was very rare.

'_I saw the paper this morning and I'm very sorry that your presence at the hospital was leaked to the press. We're trying to find out who did it; we think it might have been one of the Medi-Witches. I do hope you don't think it was me, I know the thought must have run through your mind. Scorpius wanted to give something to Rose, the writing under the house is supposed to say 'see you tomorrow' but he isn't exactly a novelist._

_Feel free to dress casual tomorrow, and drop by anytime after 4pm. Scorpius is very much looking forward to seeing Rose, and I would like to see you again too. _

_I hope you are well,_

_Malfoy/Ferret boy/Draco (I think I'll stick with Malfoy if I'm going to call you Granger, but you must understand this is a difficult concept. I don't often talk to my ex-enemies and usually when I do it's to curse them, you should feel highly honoured.)_

_P.S: Scorpius wondered if Rose had a broom and if she did would she be able to bring it? _

_P.P.S: Do you fly? I've never seen you fly, apart from that time in 1__st__ year when you fell off. If you do, bring a broom too, if you don't just bring wine._

_P.P.P.S: The last part was a joke. I'm babbling aren't I? See you tomorrow, Granger.'_

Hermione had a huge silly grin on her face when she finished the letter and carefully folded it up, she still had slight butterflies in her stomach when she thought about the next day, but she was also very excited. This Malfoy was a very different man, although there were still flashes of the school boy there, but he seemed to have grown up a lot and matured, something that Ron had never quite figured out how to do.

'Mummy!' Rose called as she ran into the room, 'Can I take my broom with me tomorrow?'

Hermione smiled, so Rose and Scorpius did seem to be very alike, 'Of course you can sweetie, Scorpius wants you to take it anyway, apparently he likes Quidditch too.'

'Mummy, everybody in the whole world likes Quidditch apart from you,' Rose said matter of factly and Hermione cornered her daughter and picked her up, 'now missy, I do like Quidditch, I just can't play it,' she said as she tickled Rose and the little girl laughed hysterically.

'I know why Mummy!' she said as Hermione put her down, 'Uncle Harry says you look really silly and always fall off!' Rose giggled as she ran as fast as she could from the room.

'Yeah you better run!' Hermione called jokingly after her daughter who she could hear giggling in the next room.

Hermione smiled broadly to herself, she was really looking forward to the 'date' at Malfoy Manor.

**TBC **


	3. The Dinner Date

**The War is Over  
**

**Chapter 3 – The Dinner Date**

Rose Granger was sitting on the sofa in the living room listening to her Mother storming around in her bedroom. She was reading a fascinating book called 'The Standard Book of Spells: Grade 1' a book her Mother told her she was too young for, but she understood everything in it. This Saturday morning had started out like any other, they had woken up and had a lovely breakfast, then Rose had been allowed to hover around on her broom for a while in the garden while her Mother did some paperwork and then after a small lunch things had started to get worse.

Rose sighed; her Mother had been in the bedroom for a while now, making lots of noise. She put her book down and walked into the room where lots of clothes were scattered on the bed.

'Mummy, can I help you?' Rose asked and Hermione turned in surprise the moment she heard her daughter's voice. She was wearing a dressing gown and seemed to be having problems knowing what to wear.

'I just don't know what to wear today Rose,' Hermione said with a deep sigh as she sat on a pile of clothes on the bed, 'and Malfoy seemed so nice and I really want him to think I look nice, but none of my clothes seem to look good,' she lay back on the bed and closed her eyes, 'what am I going to do?'

Rose didn't reply, instead she climbed up into her Mother's wardrobe and pulled down a box, Hermione sat up and opened her eyes, 'why are you going in there sweetie?'

Rose dropped the box on the bed and said, 'these are your nice clothes Mummy, why don't you wear them anymore?'

For a 5 year old Rose was far too intuitive, Hermione looked at the box sadly, 'well honey it's because the clothes in that box were presents from your Daddy, and it makes me sad looking at them.'

'Oh,' Rose said, she appeared to be thinking, 'but if you wear them on your date with Healer Draco then they won't be sad clothes anymore, they will be happy clothes.'

Hermione smiled at her daughter, 'I suppose they will be,' she said as she reached into the box and pulled out a couple of dresses, one which she'd worn to the Ministry Ball that had been held to celebrate the end of the war, another that she'd worn on her first date with Ron. Hermione sighed and then eventually found a pair of black skinny jeans she hadn't worn in a while.

'What about these Rose?' she asked as she lay the jeans down on a bit of bed that wasn't already covered with clothes.

Rose nodded eagerly and lifted up a top from the mess on the bed, 'and this would look nice with it!' she said and Hermione smiled the moment she saw the top. It stopped mid-thigh and was white with lace sleeves and fairly figure-hugging, luckily Hermione had always been quite skinny so the style didn't bother her. The top brought back fond and sad memories, she'd worn it only once and that had been 7 years ago now. When the war had ended the statue in the atrium that Voldemort had commissioned had been knocked down and replaced. It had been a huge secret as to what the new statue would be, Harry knew and had been teasing Ron and Hermione by not telling or hinting as to what it was. All they had known was that the dress code for the unveiling was white, so Hermione had worn this top and had stood and watched the new statue be unveiled. It had been silver, and atop it was a large animated phoenix. All around the circular base were the names of those who had died in the wizarding war, and it wasn't just human names either, house-elves, centaurs, anything was on it. Smaller figures could also be seen around the phoenix's feet such as the body of a house-elf with a dagger in its chest, Harry's homage to Dobby. There was also a centaur fighting a cloaked figure and a goblin wielding a sword. The final and most breath-taking part however was a silver version of Voldemort lying crippled with a victorious Harry kneeling next to him holding his wand in the air, Harry of course had hated this part.

'Mummy...Mummy!'

Hermione snapped back to reality, Rose had been trying to get her attention, 'I'm sorry sweetie, I just got lost in some memories. I think this top would look wonderful,' she said as she took it from Rose and laid it on top of her jeans, 'now all I need to do is find some shoes.'

Rose dived under the bed where Hermione kept her limited supply of high heels. She had about 4 black pairs that all looked similar, but they were for work. Discarding them Hermione only actually owned 4 pairs of high heels and 2 pairs of high-heeled boots.

'These are the wrong colour,' Rose said, throwing Hermione's red heels back under the bed, those were the shoes she had worn to Bill and Fleurs wedding 8 years ago.

Hermione smiled as Rose lifted a pair of sparkly black shoes and shook her head, she then did the same with a similar pair of sparkly silver shoes, 'these ones are too fancy Mummy,' she said as she looked at the 3 pairs of shoes she hadn't carelessly thrown under the bed.

'What about these ones?' Hermione asked, pointing to a pair of black boots with studs and ruffles on them. Rose shook her head, 'no Mummy, they won't look nice,' she said matter of factly and they too got thrown under the bed.

Out of all of the shoes there were now only 2 pairs left on the floor. A pair of black velvet knee length boots with a diamante pattern on the heel and some silver studs, casual but with a little bit of flair. The other shoes were black platform court shoes with a white heel and a white strap that buckled shut.

'I think I'll wear the boots,' Hermione said and Rose nodded eagerly, 'good choice Mummy!' she said happily.

'Now my little helper, what are you going to wear today?' Hermione asked as she walked across the hall into Rose's room and opened her wardrobe.

'I need to wear trousers Mummy! I can't fly in a dress!' Rose said as she grabbed a pair of dark blue jeans and threw them on her bed, Hermione would usually tell her daughter off for this but she'd feel a hypocrite if she did that at the moment.

'No Rosie, you aren't wearing that,' Hermione said as she reached into the top of Rose's wardrobe where her clothes for special occasions were kept. She pulled out a 3 piece outfit and laid it on the bed, it comprised of dark brown jeans, a white blouse with love hearts on it and a little dark brown waistcoat, 'will you be able to fly in that?' Hermione asked her daughter who nodded, 'but Mummy, will you be angry if I get it all dirty?' she asked.

'Of course not, you're playing Quidditch honey; I know you're going to get dirty. It won't fit you for much longer anyway,' Hermione said as she closed the wardrobe, 'do you know where your brown boots are?'

Rose nodded and pulled the boots out from under the bed. Hermione glanced at the clock on Rose's desk, it was 3.30pm.

'Alright, you get dressed then,' Hermione said as she left the room, 'I'm just going to get ready, come through if you need me.'

Hermione walked into her bedroom and took a deep breath; the nerves were really beginning to kick in. She was 25 years old, although she couldn't believe it sometimes, 25 and working as the Deputy Minister for Magic. Everybody praised her, said she was such a rarity, someone so young and successful, and a single Mother too, that always cropped up, of course it did. Rose had been born in January of the year 2000. The war had only ended in 1998, the May of '98 to be precise. Hermione and Ron had gotten together pretty much straight after and like everybody else they had married quickly and young, in the April of '99 and Rose had been born 9 months later almost exactly to the date. Hermione had never really considered herself as young, the war had aged her and she'd always felt older than her years, after all she had married at the age of 19 and had been pregnant at that age too for that matter, then Rose had been born when she was just 20, but she didn't feel young, not even then. She didn't feel like she was just out of school, in fact if anything she felt like she wanted to get on with her life and leave school behind her. Hermione sighed and pushed all of this from her mind as she got dressed and quickly did her make-up, she glanced at the time and quickly straightened her hair, sometimes Muggle technology worked better for her than spells. With one last glance in the mirror she was satisfied that she looked nice, albeit a little pale so she made her way into the living room where Rose was sitting.

'Mummy,' Rose said, 'can you make my hair curly instead of bushy?' she asked and Hermione smiled, Rose had hair like she had done at her age, but with wizarding spells Hermione could make Rose's life a bit more bearable so she cast a few charms and Rose had curls. One thing Hermione only noticed when Rose's hair was curly was the slight red tinge to it, everybody said Rose had auburn hair, but Hermione only saw it on occasion, although she wondered if that was because she didn't want to see it.

'Alright, are we ready to go?' Hermione asked with a smile as she grabbed her handbag and took Rose's hand.

They walked into the back garden and Hermione lifted Rose up, she closed her eyes and spun on the spot and they had vanished.

* * *

When Hermione found herself at the gates of Malfoy Manor she was very tempted to turn and run and go back home, but she didn't. Instead she took another deep breath. She conjured up her patronus and said as calmly as she could, 'Tell Malfoy we're here.'

Hermione's otter patronus glided through the air and vanished when it reached the door of the Manor. The gates magically swung open and Rose said, 'Wow! Mummy! Why can't we have a big house like this?'

Hermione chuckled as they walked up the path towards the large white manor house. There was something a little different about it, but Hermione couldn't tell what, it was like part of the building was missing, 'We can have one, but why do we need a big house when it's just you and me?'

'Because it looks cool!' Rose said eagerly as she let go of her Mother's hand and rushed up to the door. As soon as she reached the doorstep it opened.

'Hello Healer Draco,' Rose said politely, glancing around him, 'where is Scorpius?'

Malfoy chuckled and said, 'he's waiting for you in the lounge; let your poor Mother catch up with you.'

Hermione shook her head in amusement when she reached the doorstep, 'Hi,' she said slightly awkwardly.

'Hey,' Malfoy said with a smile, 'do come in,' he added and he held the door open widely and let Hermione and Rose walk into the large entrance hall. Malfoy was dressed fairly similar to Hermione with the smart-casual theme; he was wearing dark jeans and a shirt, which made Hermione glad she'd gotten the dress-code right.

'Wow,' Hermione said as she glanced around, 'looks like you redecorated.'

Malfoy nodded as he took Hermione and Rose's coats, 'yeah, no more Slytherin green, apart from in my Father's old study. The old git put permanent sticking charms on everything so we can't change it.'

Hermione smiled at this, 'I'm surprised actually,' she admitted, 'that you still live here.'

'As am I,' Malfoy said as Scorpius ran out of a room to the left of the entrance hall, he was dressed similarly to his Father in jeans and a shirt, 'Hi Rose! Do you want to come and see my new potions kit?'

'Yeah! Can I Mum?' Rose asked, practically bouncing up and down, Hermione smiled, 'of course you can, but don't try and make dangerous things this time missy!'

Rose rolled her eyes, 'boring,' she said as she hurried after Scorpius up the stairs in the middle of the entrance hall.

'I reckon we have the two most precocious kids in the world,' Malfoy said jokingly as the two kids stomped around above them.

Hermione then noticed what was different about the house, there had once been a door to the right which had opened out into the ballroom, but where there had been a door there was now a large portrait of Hogwarts with the crests of each house at the top and the founders standing on the slope up to the castle.

'What happened to the ballroom?' Hermione asked, her voice a little dry as she remembered the last time she'd been here.

'It caught fire,' Malfoy said lightly, 'all that was in that wing of the house was the ballroom and the tapestry room.'

'How did the fire start?' Hermione asked, she was a little in shock that Malfoy hadn't bothered to rebuild that part of the manor; it made the ground floor significantly smaller.

'Oh, I set fire to it,' Malfoy said casually and Hermione spun around in surprise, 'Really?'

Malfoy nodded, watching Hermione with a small smile, 'It contained nothing but bad memories, I didn't want Scorpius to grow up seeing that place, so I set fire to it.'

'And you didn't rebuild it,' Hermione said thoughtfully as she looked more closely at the portrait that had replaced the door.

'No,' Malfoy said as he followed Hermione to the portrait, 'I didn't want too, people died in that room.'

'What is it now?' Hermione asked curiously, 3 of the founders on the portrait smiled at her, and Salazar Slytherin looked grumpily in the other direction.

'Oh just grass,' Malfoy said and Hermione frowned slightly, 'the crests are wrong.'

'I know.'

'You know?' Hermione asked and she turned to the former Slytherin who nodded, the corners of his mouth were masking a smirk similar to the one Hermione had known when they had been at Hogwarts together, 'the crests are in the wrong order,' Malfoy said, 'the order should be Slytherin, Ravenclaw, Gryffindor and then Hufflepuff.'

'So why are the crests in order of Ravenclaw, Slytherin, Gryffindor and then Hufflepuff?' Hermione asked curiously, she was mesmerised by the picture.

Malfoy shrugged and said, 'I wanted to put Slytherin and Gryffindor together,' he said simply and before Hermione could say anymore he asked, 'would you like to come into the lounge?'

Hermione nodded, still shocked by Malfoy's answer, they made their way into the lounge which was large and bright, and sat down on one of the sofa's.

Hermione was glancing around the room awkwardly and Malfoy was looking at his feet, there was an awkward silence in the air.

'So,' Hermione began to say, and at the same time Malfoy had tried to say, 'Well,' they shared a glance and laughed awkwardly.

'Sorry Granger,' Malfoy said, he frowned, 'that doesn't sound right, I should call you Hermione, right?'

Hermione smiled slightly, 'It is my name,' she said with a smirk and Malfoy chuckled, 'okay, let's try this again,' he held out his hand and said, 'Nice to meet you, I'm Draco Malfoy.'

Hermione laughed and took his hand, 'Hermione Granger,' she said as she shook it.

'So, Hermione,' Malfoy said, 'would you like a glass of wine?'

'I would love one,' Hermione said with a smile as Draco stood and walked over to a magical cabinet in the corner of the room, 'Red, white or rose?'

'Rose,' Hermione replied with a chuckle, 'and before you ask I did not name my daughter after a type of wine, she's named after the flower.'

Malfoy chuckled and poured two glasses of wine, he made his way back to the sofa and handed Hermione her glass then sat down, 'Now, I must ask, at the risk of sounding like a gossiping old witch, what do you know of the people we went to school with?'

Hermione smiled at this, 'Well I kept in touch with Harry of course, and Ginny, but everybody has spread out a lot.'

'I heard about Lovegood, she's in Asia or something, isn't she?' Malfoy asked curiously.

'She was, she's just returned from Africa now,' Hermione said, shaking her head in amusement.

'And Potter is an Auror,' Malfoy said, rolling his eyes, 'predictable.'

Hermione smirked, 'well you being a Healer is certainly not predictable.'

'Nor is the fact that you are the Deputy Minister for Magic,' Malfoy said, also smirking, 'I always thought you'd be a good politician.'

Hermione laughed, 'Yes well, I'd rather be a Teacher, but I need to stick with the Minister until his term is up.'

'You aren't running for it yourself?' Malfoy asked, seeming surprised by this. Hermione shook her head, 'No, I can't devote the amount of time it needs, Rose needs me too much, if I work at Hogwarts I'll be in a normal 9 to 5 job.'

'Let me guess, Transfiguration?' Malfoy said with a smile, Hermione was stunned, 'yes, how did you know?'

'I pay attention; it was your best subject in school,' Malfoy said and Hermione nodded, still surprised, 'I know, I just didn't know that you knew that.'

Malfoy merely shrugged, 'So you only have Rose?'

Hermione nodded, 'Yeah,' she said thoughtfully, 'Ron and I married young and had Rose young,' she frowned a little, 'I don't think either of us was ready for it.'

'I always wanted siblings for Scorp,' Malfoy said truthfully, 'unfortunately Astoria...' he trailed off and Hermione nodded.

'Harry and Ginny are a different story,' Hermione said with a fond smile, 'they married so young and they are so happy.'

'Are they typical Weasleys?' Malfoy asked and Hermione chuckled, 'I guess you could say so, they have 3 children.'

'3?' Malfoy asked with wide eyes, 'aren't they eager...'

Hermione laughed at this, it was true, 'they have sweet kids.'

'Are any of them ages with Rose and Scorp?' Malfoy asked, adding, 'I'm just wondering if a Granger, a Malfoy and a Potter will end up at school together again.'

Hermione smiled, 'well James is 6, Albus is 5 and Lily is 2, so Al will be in the same year.'

'Potter called his kid Albus? Really?' Malfoy asked in exasperation and Hermione chuckled louder than before, 'yeah, and his middle name is Severus.'

'Oh, Merlin,' Malfoy said, he shook his head, 'I never understood that guy,' he then added, 'hang on a minute...if Potter's oldest kid is 6...'

Hermione smiled as she realised that Malfoy was doing the maths, 'yeah, Ginny and Harry are very much like Molly and Arthur,' she said with a chuckle, 'Gins pretty sure that James was conceived on the night of the final battle.'

Malfoy made a face, 'that's an image I never wanted,' he said and Hermione rolled her eyes, 'hey that's my friends you're talking about,' she joked. No more was said on the subject because at that point Rose and Scorpius bounded into the room.

'Mum! Scorpius has his own potions kit and it's so much bigger and cooler than mine!' Rose said as she jumped up and down excitedly.

'And Dad guess what!' Scorpius said, 'Rose knows how to make an anti-boils solution, can we make one? Can we?'

'Maybe,' Malfoy said as the two kids jumped up and down, 'but not today, we're going to be having dinner soon.'

'What about after?' Scorpius asked and Malfoy calmly said, 'No Scorp, you promised Rose you'd play Quidditch after dinner, I'm sure Rose will be able to come back to the manor another time to make potions with you.'

Scorpius looked a little disappointed but nodded, 'okay Dad.'

Malfoy smiled at his son, 'Why don't you take Rose up the dining room Scorp? We'll be up in a minute, okay?'

Scorpius nodded, smiling once more, he grabbed Rose's hand and said, 'Come on Rose!' and the two children ran noisily up the stairs.

'I'll admit, I'm surprised,' Hermione said as she got to her feet. Malfoy clicked his fingers and the wine glasses disappeared, to reappear on the table upstairs Hermione assumed.

'About the fact I'm calm with him or the fact he calls me Dad instead of Father?' Malfoy asked and Hermione chuckled, 'Both,' she said truthfully, 'I always thought you'd be...'

Hermione trailed off and got to her feet as Malfoy did the same, he smiled at her as he led her back into the entrance hall, 'You thought I'd be like my Father,' he stated as they made their way up the grand black marble stairs, 'I make every effort to be as unlike my Father as possible.'

'Is he in Azkaban?' Hermione asked, adding quickly, 'if you don't mind my asking that is.'

'I don't mind,' Malfoy said with a smile, 'and yes, he is and probably will be for the rest of his life. My Mother lives in Monaco; she wanted to get away from this place.'

'And you? Why are you still here?' Hermione asked as they reached the top of the stairs and walked along a corridor with a door on either side and one at the opposite end.

Malfoy paused outside one of the doors which was slightly ajar and replied, 'This might be a little too Gryffindor of me, and it's certainly something I hate to admit, but I don't believe in just running away from my problems. England is my home, and this manor is my home, I like it here, despite all the bad memories.'

Hermione smiled warmly at this, 'That is _very _Gryffindor,' she said and Malfoy made a face, 'don't tell anyone about it,' he said making Hermione laugh.

With that they made their way into the dining room which was set up for 4 even though the table could accommodate at least 10. Rose and Scorpius were already seated on one side of the table. Malfoy pulled out Hermione's chair and let her sit down then took his place next to her at the table.

Rose and Scorpius immediately started to chatter as they had before and Hermione smiled at them.

'She looks a lot like you,' Malfoy said with a smile as he looked at Rose and Hermione nodded, 'everybody says she's my carbon copy, but I could say the same about you and Scorpius,' she said, looking at Malfoy's son with his blonde hair and blue/grey eyes.

'It makes you wonder, doesn't it?' Malfoy asked, he looked as though his thoughts were far away as he looked at his son with Rose, 'how we might have looked if we'd have been friends when we were younger.'

'I imagine we would have gotten on well,' Hermione admitted, 'after all you could have rivalled my intelligence in a way Harry and Ron didn't.'

Malfoy sniggered at this, 'well, that wouldn't be hard now would it?'

Hermione gave him a look, one of the looks Harry called 'the Hermione look' and said, 'I know you didn't like him at school Malfoy, but Harry is my best friend.'

'Now, now Granger,' Malfoy said smoothly, 'aren't you supposed to be calling me Draco?'

'Only if you at least try to stop insulting Harry,' Hermione said and as food arrived on the table Malfoy said reluctantly, 'alright, I'll try.'

Rose and Scorpius had been trained well, they kept their conversation up about the different uses of dragon blood and whether the Chudley Cannons was a good team or not throughout dinner, but they never once talked with their mouths full.

This left Hermione and Malfoy with plenty of time to talk, and they did just that.

'If you don't mind my asking, what's the deal with Rose's Dad?' Malfoy asked, he was nosy, but he also wanted to find out what made this new Hermione Granger tick.

Hermione swallowed her mouthful and replied, 'Like I said earlier, we married young and Ron in particular wasn't ready for it. He was having an affair with someone he'd met through working with the Cannons, and I confronted him about it and got divorce papers in return,' she sighed and glanced over at Rose to make sure she hadn't been listening, 'he went to America to play for some team in New York when Rose was 2, and I haven't seen or heard from him since.'

Malfoy shook his head angrily, 'I don't understand how any man can leave his children behind, and ', he said quietly, 'does Rose know who he is?'

Hermione shook her head, 'No, not really. She's heard Harry and I talk about it, but as smart as she is I don't think she quite understands it yet.'

'I understand that,' Malfoy said truthfully, 'Scorpius knows that his Mum's in Heaven, but he doesn't understand anymore than that just yet.'

'How did you and Astoria meet?' Hermione asked with a smile, she was pleased that Malfoy could talk about his late wife without suffering.

'It was a typical arranged marriage;' Malfoy said openly, 'my Mother arranged it. Astoria was a year younger than her sister Daphne Greengrass, you might remember her, she was in our year at school.'

Hermione nodded and said, 'Yes, I remember her, she was part of Pansy's gang.'

Draco only nodded at this, although a dark look flashed through his eyes, 'When the battle was over Astoria decided to skip her last year of school so the marriage went ahead a year earlier than planned. We got married in the winter of '98 and had Scorp.'

'Did it make you happy? An arranged marriage?' Hermione asked, 'I don't mean to criticise your way of life, I'm just curious.'

'You aren't criticising it, don't worry,' Malfoy said evenly, 'and it did actually, I went along with my Mother's plans because I felt numb after the war. Then I actually fell in love with Astoria, it isn't too uncommon in pureblood arranged marriages.'

'I think it's clever in a way,' Hermione said frankly, 'I mean of course a marriage could have the potential of being better with someone you don't really know because you have the whole getting to know you period. After what happened with Ron I don't think I could ever marry someone I'd been friends with for so long, it's a difficult transition.'

'Arranged marriages do work,' Malfoy agreed, 'but there is something appealing about chasing someone and having that sense of achievement when they agree to marry you.'

Hermione only smiled at this and asked, 'How did Astoria...' she trailed off but Malfoy knew what she meant and he looked down at the table as he said, 'she was out in Diagon Alley when...'

Hermione gasped and covered her face with her hands, 'Oh my gosh Draco, I'm so sorry... I hadn't realised.'

Malfoy didn't smile, he just gave a small nod and Hermione said sadly, 'I lost people too in that attack,' she looked up and caught Malfoy's eye, 'I don't know if you remember the Hufflepuff girls Susan and Hannah, they both died, as did the Ravenclaw Cho Chang in the year above us.'

'A lot of people died that day,' Malfoy said darkly, 'and it's the reason my Father will stay in prison until the day he dies.'

'So the rumours were true then, it was your Father who released that dragon on those people,' Hermione said quietly, she seemed stunned. Malfoy merely nodded at this and glanced at the children, they were still very much immersed in their conversation, 'and his own sons wife died in the attack,' he shook his head angrily and his eyes flashed, 'I'll never forgive my Father for that.'

The air had suddenly become tense and a little awkward because Hermione didn't know how to respond to that. The food had been finished and had disappeared; they were now making small talk while they waited for dessert.

'Mummy!' Rose piped up and Hermione turned to her daughter, 'did you and Healer Draco go to Hogwarts together?'

Hermione frowned at the question, 'Yes Rose, we did.'

'Why haven't I met him before Mummy?' Rose asked curiously, and Hermione and Malfoy both chuckled.

'Well Rose, we didn't like each other in school, we used to argue all of the time,' Malfoy said and Scorpius asked, 'why are you friends now then?'

Hermione opened her mouth to reply, but Malfoy beat her to it, 'Scorpius, you know how we don't see your Grandfather?'

Scorpius nodded and Malfoy continued, 'that was because he not a very nice man, and because of him I wasn't very nice at school, I was a bit of a bully, and Hermione didn't like me because of it.'

'But you aren't bad anymore Dad,' Scorpius said and Rose shook her head, 'No Healer Draco, you're a nice man!'

'So are you and Miss. Granger going to be friends now?' Scorpius asked, 'because I want to be friends with Rose.'

Hermione chuckled at this, 'We are going to be friends now Scorpius and you can call me Hermione.'

'Okay Miss. Hermione!' Scorpius said brightly, at that point dessert appeared on the table and the kids immediately got stuck in, leaving Hermione and Malfoy to talk once more.

'I am sorry,' Malfoy said as he helped himself to dessert, 'about the way I treated you when we were at school. It was unacceptable and unforgivable.'

'It was,' Hermione agreed, adding, 'but people can change and people deserve second chances.'

'That attitude is rare in the aftermath of a war,' Malfoy said with a small frown, 'even if that war was 7 years ago.'

'What is in the past will stay there Draco,' Hermione said simply, 'nothing we do will change it, so I don't see any point in worrying about it or holding grudges.'

'I wish everybody thought that way,' Malfoy said with a weak chuckle and Hermione managed to give him a small smile, 'so do I,' she said honestly.

As they finished dessert they talked some more, about work and life and everything under the sun. Once food was finished Hermione and Malfoy made their way outside into what was amazingly a magical garden, Hermione had never seen such a thing, but it was wonderful. The light and temperature was controlled through magic so when they made their way outside it was light and warm despite the fact it was 7pm on an evening at the end of January.

Draco and Hermione sat in a small spectator area with a glass of wine and watched as their children flew around together on the pitch.

'Rose's broom is an intermediate,' Hermione informed Malfoy, 'it can only reach a height of 20 metres.'

'I didn't think anyone else would let their 5 year old kid have an intermediate broom,' Malfoy said with a chuckle, 'people think I'm crazy because of it, but I know Scorp is capable, plus the ground has so many cushioning charms on it he'd bounce if he fell off.'

Hermione laughed at this, 'I'm the same with Rose, I was nervous at first when she got into Quidditch, but now it's easier to watch her.'

'She's good,' Malfoy observed and Hermione smiled, 'one of the few things Rose got from her Father instead of me.'

'How long has she being playing?' Malfoy asked curiously and Hermione replied, 'since she was about 2 and half, Harry got her and Al on a broom at the same time, they both love it.'

'Is Potter around much then?' Malfoy asked, Hermione smiled as she saw her daughter do a loop confidently, 'yeah, he helps out. You'll know yourself how difficult being a single parent can be sometimes. He takes Rose to Quidditch practice and Ginny looks after her while I'm at work.'

'I don't really have that with my Mother living in Monaco,' Malfoy said, 'I never really had any real friends in school apart from Blaise and Theo, Crabbe and Goyle were really more like bodyguards and obviously you know what happened to Crabbe in the war.'

Hermione nodded and let Malfoy continue, 'So Blaise and Pansy watch Scorp 3 days a week and Theo watches him 2,' he shook his head in amusement, 'although Theo should never be allowed near kids.'

Hermione smiled and asked, 'I remember Blaise, but who is Theo?'

'Theodore Nott, he was a Slytherin in our year,' Malfoy said with a fond smile, 'he seemed quiet, but he's absolutely bonkers. He's Scorpius's Godfather.'

'Harry and Ginny are Rose's Godparents,' Hermione said as she watched Scorpius and Rose chase an enchanted apple around the pitch, 'they spoil her rotten.'

'She seems like a good kid, you're lucky,' Malfoy said with a smile as Scorpius beat Rose to the apple and the two kids landed on the ground swiftly.

'She is, and Scorpius seems the same,' Hermione added as she and Malfoy got up and made their way down to the pitch to collect their children.

'Thank you for a lovely evening,' Hermione said kindly to Malfoy as they made their way back indoors, 'but I'm afraid we must be off, this little lady needs to get to bed, she has Quidditch practice early tomorrow.'

Rose nodded and yawned, 'Thank you for having us Scorpius and Healer Draco,' she said sleepily.

'No problem Rose, and call me Draco,' Malfoy said with a smile. Hermione lifted her daughter up into her arms as they walked toward the front door.

'I wondered if you and Scorpius would like to come round to our place next Saturday, if you aren't busy,' Hermione said, feeling nervous again all of a sudden, 'it's nothing like this, just a little flat, but-'

Malfoy interrupted her, 'that would be lovely.'

Hermione smiled and gave Malfoy the address, 'I'll owl you during the week,' she said as Malfoy opened the door for her.

'Thank you Hermione, for a lovely evening,' Malfoy whispered and Hermione smiled, her cheeks tinged a faint pink colour, 'Thank you, Draco,' she said, and with one last smile she turned and made her way down the path and out of the gate and then she apparated home.

Hermione spent the rest of the night grinning, from the moment she got in and put Rose to bed until the moment she closed her eyes that night to go to sleep.

**TBC **


	4. Aurors & Accidents

**She Called Another Man Daddy**

**Chapter 4 – Aurors & Accidents**

After her 'date' with Draco Malfoy, Hermione had been in a fantastic mood. Her mood had been so good in fact that she'd cleaned the house on Sunday before her lunch date with Ginny, during which she had been interrogated. When Monday rolled around Hermione needed to go back to work so she dropped Rose off at Grimmauld Place with Ginny and made her way through the Ministry to her office.

Hermione's day was slow and boring until lunch time when she was sitting in her office eating a sandwich. It was then that Harry made his way into the office and sat down casually on the chair across from her desk. He cocked his head at her but didn't say anything. Hermione pretended not to see him and didn't look up from her paperwork.

'So,' Harry eventually said and Hermione looked up with a smirk, 'Go on, ask about my date with Draco, I know you're dying too.'

Harry grinned and leant forward, 'Alright then, tell me all about your date with Malfoy.'

'Harry, you can be such a woman sometimes,' Hermione said laughing heartily, 'my date was lovely for your information, Draco and I have a lot in common and so do our children.'

'You're calling him Draco now are you?' Harry asked with a smirk, 'so did you do the deed then?' he winked at her and Hermione rolled her eyes, 'No, we didn't even kiss. Rose and Scorpius were with us pretty much the whole time.'

'You didn't even kiss? How do you class that as a good date?' Harry asked with a laugh and Hermione shook her head in amusement, 'how do you not know all of this? I told Ginny everything yesterday!'

'Yeah, but she wouldn't tell me what you'd said,' Harry said with a bit of a pout, 'she said it was your business and I had to hear it from you.'

'Well we talked about Ron and Draco's late wife Astoria, and I found out something interesting but you better promise to keep it to yourself, okay?' Hermione asked and when Harry nodded she said, 'Remember the dragon attack in Diagon Alley in 2002? The one that killed 120 people or something like that?'

'Yeah,' Harry said with a shudder, 'I was a junior Auror at the time, I remember working the clean up.'

'Well Draco's wife Astoria died in that attack, but he also confirmed the rumours, it was Lucius Malfoy that let that dragon loose,' Hermione said and Harry didn't seem surprised by this revelation, 'I know,' he said quietly, 'all of the Aurors did, we were the ones who arrested him and sent him to Azkaban, it was all kept top secret though so I couldn't even tell Ginny, I'm sorry.'

'It's okay,' Hermione said with a smile, 'I understand that in your job you have to keep secrets, I have to keep secrets for the Minister.'

'I suppose you do,' Harry said, adding, 'so what are you going to do about this whole Malfoy thing then? Is it a phase or is it going to stick?'

'I don't know yet, but I did invite him to the flat next Saturday, and Rose loves Scorpius, they get on so well,' Hermione said, still smiling at the memories.

'I am glad Hermione,' Harry said smiling, 'I do just want you to be happy again, as long as he's not still a murdering death eating git then he'll do, but I'll have to have the talk with him if things start to get serious.'

'Right, you do that,' Hermione said through her laughter.

At that point a large silver fox bounded through the door and spoke in the voice of the Head Auror, 'Harry, we have a serious incident in Little Hangleton, report to me immediately. Code blue'

Harry was on his feet instantly, and Hermione was instantly worried.

'Code blue means several dead on the scene,' Harry said and with that he ran from the office. Hermione sighed, she was worried about Harry, she always did when he was on serious missions.

Hermione put her head down and tried to work, but as it was Kingsley walked out of the office attached to hers and told her that as it was a slow day she could go home early so Hermione made her way back to Grimmauld Place to pick up Rose.

'Hermione!' Ginny said in surprise when Hermione emerged from the fireplace.

'The Minister let me out early,' Hermione said with a smile.

'Have you seen Harry today?' Ginny asked and Hermione lied to her friend, she hated doing it but she didn't want to make Ginny worry if there wasn't any need for it, 'No, not today,' she said and at that point Rose saved her from having to lie anymore by running into the kitchen.

'Mummy! You're home early!' Rose said as she jumped up into her Mother's arms. Hermione smiled and told her daughter what she'd just told Ginny then she and Rose floo-ed back to their flat.

Hermione had literally just got in and fixed Rose a sandwich when the floo sprung to life, Hermione rushed to it, worried it would be Harry or Ginny, but she was surprised to see Draco's face appear in the flames.

'Hermione, I need your help,' Draco said urgently, 'I'm so sorry, I just got an emergency call from work, there was a mass accident and they need all hands on deck, but it's my day off and I can't find anybody to watch Scorp.'

'I'll watch him,' Hermione said instantly, 'Draco, where was the accident called in from?'

'Little Hangleton, it was a mass attack, 4 death eaters escaped. There are casualties and several dead.'

'Oh my god,' Hermione said, her eyes welling up with tears, 'Draco, Harry was working that job!'

Draco's face fell, 'I promise I'll make sure he's okay and I'll send you a patronus the moment I know anything, I really have to rush Hermione, I'll send Scorp through.'

Hermione nodded and Draco's face disappeared, she quickly wiped her tears as the fire roared green and Scorpius walked out of it.

'I'm sorry Miss. Hermione,' Scorpius said with his head down, 'my Dad doesn't like it when he has to go to work on his day off.'

'That's alright Scorpius,' Hermione said with a smile, 'Rosie!' she called and Rose ran through from the kitchen, 'Cool! Scorpius is here! Scorpius come see my potions kit!'

Scorpius and Rose hurried away to Rose's bedroom and Hermione sunk down on the sofa, she was worried sick.

* * *

The moment Scorpius disappeared into the fire Draco transfigured into his Healer robes and hurried from the house. As soon he got to the gates he apparated and ran into the emergency room of the hospital.

'Healer Malfoy!' a Medi-Witch called the moment she saw Draco, 'multiple casualties!'

'Any Aurors?' Draco asked as he looked at the clipboard he'd just been handed. According to the sheet there were 23 casualties and 4 dead.

'4,' the Medi-Witch said, 'Davies, Wood, Zabini and Potter.'

Draco's heart sunk, Blaise was his best friend, 'injuries?' he asked as he walked with the nurse.

'Davies and Zabini have minor injuries, Wood is in the OR and Potter hasn't come in yet.'

'ETA?'

'2 minutes,' the Medi-Witch said and Draco nodded, 'does he need a trauma surgeon more than anybody else in here?'

'His injuries are severe,' the Medi-Witch confirmed and Draco said, 'alright, get me Denning and Davidson and 3 Medi-Witches and prepare OR 5,' he said quickly, 'I'll take Potter.'

'Yes sir,' the Medi-Witch said and Draco handed her back the clipboard and hurried to the emergency apparition point and tapped his foot nervously as he waited for the paramedics to arrive with Potter.

Draco jumped in the end when he heard the crack and looked to the spot where they had appeared, Potter was on a gurney and Draco shouted, 'OR 5!' he hurried alongside the paramedics on their way to the OR and they filled him in on the way.

'Multiple injuries,' the paramedic said, 'several broken ribs, a punctured lung filling up with blood. Internal bleeding in the chest and a serious head injury.'

'What have you done?' Draco asked as they neared the OR.

'Slowed the internal bleeding and stopped the brain from swelling,' the paramedic told Draco as they got to the door of the OR. Draco thanked the paramedic and wheeled Harry into the operating room where his team were waiting for him.

'Alright team we have multiple injuries!' Draco shouted as he got Harry into the centre of the room.

'Broken ribs, punctured lung, internal bleeding in the chest and a head injury.'

Immediately the team got to work scanning with their wands and within a matter of minutes Draco realised they would have to open Harry up to get the work they needed done.

'Davidson!' Draco shouted, 'I can't work on his head and his chest at the same time; I'm not good at neuro, open up his head please,'

'Malfoy, I'm only in my first year as a neuro healer and you want me to open up Harry Potter!' Davidson remarked and Draco shouted back, 'Look Davidson if we don't open him up now he'll die, we can't wait for a qualified neuro healer.'

Davidson looked like he was going to try and get out of this once more and Draco said, 'Davidson, open him up now, I'm not qualified at all in neuro, I don't know the spells, open him up! I'm not letting him die, I just had a date with his best friend and she'll kill me if I don't save his life!'

The Healer, Davidson, nodded and took a deep breath then did the necessary spell to cut into Harry's head to fix the damage.

Draco cut a small incision with his wand into Harry's chest and now that he had him open managed to suction out the blood in his chest and in his lungs. He then sealed the puncture that Harry had in his lungs and temporarily fixed his ribs, although he would need to take 'skele-gro' when he woke up for them to be fixed properly.

'Alright, I'm closing,' Draco said as he closed Harry's chest and left only a small scar.

'Davidson, how are you doing with his head?' Draco asked, making his way over to his fellow Healer.

'I've stopped the swelling Healer Malfoy, his brain has returned to normal size, and there is no blood,' Davidson said, he was calm and his hands were steady but his voice was shaking.

'Alright good job Davidson, I'll finish up here,' Draco said, he called, 'Henderson! How is Potter's brain activity?'

'Normal Healer Malfoy,' the Medi-Witch Henderson said and Draco sighed in relief as he closed up the wound in Harry's skull, leaving a bald patch on his head.

A loud beeping let Draco now that Harry was crashing and Henderson shouted, 'he's crashing Healer Malfoy!'

'He shouldn't be, his heart was fine,' Draco said frantically as he cast a charm that revealed the inner workings of the Aurors body.

'He's still bleeding!' Denning said as he pointed to Harry's heart, 'the puncture in his lung wasn't from a rib, the paramedics obviously missed the fact he had a chest injury.'

'Shit!' Draco cursed as he opened Harry up once more, 'whatever was lodged in his chest nicked his aorta, he's bleeding out!'

'Denning, I'm a trauma healer, but I've never had to deal with a heart injury, help me out,' Draco said to the trainee heart healer who was working with him in the OR.

'Suction the blood from his chest,' Denning said as he used his wand to repair the artery by growing new cells and letting the wound seal up naturally. The procedure took 10 minutes and it was very difficult to perform, Draco let Denning do the spell while he kept suctioning the blood out of Harry's chest. Eventually it stopped and Draco sighed in relief.

'He's out of the danger zone,' Henderson said, also breathing a sigh of relief.

'Alright, close him up Denning,' Draco said and he took a step back and looked down at his hands, they were covered in Potter's blood and that made him nervous.

'What now?' Henderson asked as Harry lay on the table, no longer with any open wounds.

'Take him to intensive care, give him 'skele-gro' for the broken ribs and keep an eye on his heart, he'll need plenty of pain potions too, but don't mix F4 with the 'skele-gro'. He won't wake up for at least 24 hours and when he does he can't eat for another 6,' Draco rattled this all of very quickly and Henderson wrote it down.

At that point a hawk flew into the room and in the voice of Draco's supervisor in the paediatrics department it said, '2 children injured. 6 year old girl with multiple stupefies to the chest and an 11 year old boy with a head injury from falling rubble. Make your way to the department immediately.'

Draco rushed from the room and washed his hands then made his way through an archway which washed all of the bacteria from him and then he hurried up a few staircases to his department. He paused before he made his way through the doors and sent off a patronus to Hermione. Then he rushed through the double doors and got back to work.

* * *

Hermione had given Rose and Scorpius some dinner, but she hadn't been able to eat herself yet, she was still very worried about Harry. Draco had sent Scorpius through the fire at around 3.30pm and it had just past 5pm when a large majestic silver wolf pranced through the window and stopped in front of Hermione. It opened its mouth and spoke in Draco's voice.

'Potter is okay. I performed the surgery myself. He had multiple chest injuries with his heart and lungs and a head injury, he is out of the woods and in intensive care. His wife will be notified soon and I'm sure you will hear from her shortly. This was a mass attack; I might be working all night, if so I am very sorry for leaving Scorpius with you.'

With that the silver wolf vanished and Hermione felt her chest get a little less tight, she breathed a sigh of relief that Harry was alright and made her way through to Rose's room where the two children were playing 'Dragons & Staircases'.

'Scorpius I just got a message from your Dad,' Hermione said kindly, 'he doesn't know how late he'll be working so you might have to go to sleep here tonight. When is your bed time at home?'

Scorpius replied, '7.30pm, but 8pm on weekends.'

'Same as me!' Rose said with a gasp as if this was astonishing. Hermione chuckled, 'Alright then, you have plenty of time to play before bed,' she said.

'Mummy, you're worried about Uncle Harry and Scorpius's Daddy aren't you?' Rose asked and with a smile Hermione replied, 'a little bit.'

'Why don't we play 'Hogwarts Who Did It?' Mummy? It will make you stop worrying about Uncle Harry!' Rose said as she pulled a box out from under her bed. Hermione smiled, 'oh alright then, we will play it in the living room.'

Hermione took the two kids into the living room and opened up the box. It was a game Hermione had made for Rose that was based on the Muggle game 'Cluedo,' but she'd made it easier so Rose could understand it, although these days she could play it properly, she was so smart.

'Alright Scorpius,' Hermione said, 'the game is easy, you get some cards and a scoring sheet and you mark off what you have then you need to try and find out what cards Rose and me have so you can find out what 3 cards are in the middle there.'

Scorpius was nodding throughout this explanation, 'So we need to find out who did it and what they did it with and in what room.'

'Yep!' Rose said brightly, and they started playing the game. Cluedo was a good game to pass the time because it could last so long sometimes. Hermione didn't even notice that an hour had gone by while they played. She had figured it out very quickly, but for the children's sake she let them keep going and in the end Rose guessed first.

'I think it was Salazar Slytherin with the Basilisk in the Chamber of Secrets!' Rose said and she looked at the cards in the middle and frowned, 'oh, I'm out Mummy, I got it wrong.'

'Don't worry about it honey, we can play a different game after, this one is quite hard,' Hermione said as she lifted Rose up onto her knee.

Scorpius guessed next, 'I think it was Godric Gryffindor with the Hippogriff in the Hufflepuff common room!' he guessed and when he looked at the cards he grinned, 'I'm right! I won!'

'Well done Scorpius!' Hermione said and Rose clapped.

After the game of Cluedo Hermione played a few more games with the kids and then took them into Rose's bedroom to put them to bed. Luckily Rose had a very big bedroom so it made it easy for Hermione to conjure up a camp bed for Scorpius on the floor of her bedroom.

'Mummy! Can I have a bedtime story?' Rose asked once Hermione had tucked her daughter into bed and put her night light on. One thing she enjoyed about living in a Muggle flat was having electricity, a luxury the wizarding world didn't have and didn't want either for that matter.

'Of course you can, do you get bedtime stories Scorpius?' Hermione asked as she sat down on the edge of Rose's bed. Scorpius nodded, 'my Dad reads me cool ones about dragons!'

Hermione chuckled and reached into Rose's bookshelf, 'how about one of the tales of Beedle the Bard?'

'I want the Warlock's Hairy Heart!' Scorpius shouted and Rose shook her head, 'No! I don't like that one; I want The Tale of the Three Brothers!'

'The Warlocks Hairy Heart gives Rose nightmares Scorpius,' Hermione said lightly, 'would you mind if I read the Tale of the Three Brothers instead?'

Scorpius shook his head, 'that's okay Miss. Hermione; I don't want Rose to have any nightmares.'

Hermione read them the bedtime story and then kissed Rose on the cheek and said goodnight. She then made her way over to Scorpius and tucked him into the camp bed, 'Goodnight Scorpius,' she said with a smile.

'Goodnight Hermione, thanks for looking after me,' Scorpius said sleepily as he shut his eyes. Hermione smiled at this and whispered, 'no problem.'

Hermione got to her feet and pulled the door so it was only open slightly and then she tiptoed to the living room and floo called Grimmauld Place. She popped her head into the fireplace and when she opened her eyes she saw the empty kitchen.

'Molly!' Hermione called loudly, 'Arthur!'

Upstairs she heard movement and someone hurried down the stairs, it was Arthur.

'Hello Hermione,' Arthur said fondly, he had bags under his eyes, 'do you know about Harry?'

Hermione nodded, 'yes, I heard about it from Draco, he was the Healer who operated on Harry.'

'Yes, Ginny told me you were back in touch with him,' Arthur said, 'Ginny is at the hospital at the moment with Molly, I'm watching the kids.'

'I thought you might be, do you know if he'll be allowed visitors tomorrow?' Hermione asked and Arthur nodded, 'as of 10am I think.'

'Alright, thanks Arthur. I'll probably check in tomorrow with Rose, I've got Draco's son Scorpius staying with us at the moment.'

Arthur gave Hermione a small smile, 'are you dating him then?'

Hermione blushed, but it was hard to notice through the fire, 'not exactly, I guess you could say that we are seeing each other. He was called in today because of the mass attack Harry was involved in and he had no other option but to ask me to watch Scorpius, luckily I got home from work early.'

'That is lucky,' Arthur observed, 'I heard some news on what happened in Little Hangleton. Some Death Eaters escaped and were living in the house, the villagers found out and called the local Muggle police and then they started out on a killing spree. The Aurors turned up and a few of them got injured.'

'Do you know how Harry got injured yet?' Hermione asked curiously and Arthur replied, 'from what I've heard from Kingsley he got separated from the rest of his team and was cornered by all of the Death Eaters, they left him thinking he would die, but his partner found him and got him to the paramedics.'

'How is Oliver?' Hermione asked, Harry's partner was the old Quidditch captain Oliver Wood who had decided to change career after the war.

'He had to have surgery, but it wasn't invasive like Harry's was. He's in recovery now, according to Katie he's awake and well,' Arthur informed Hermione, 'the other Aurors on the job were Davies and Zabini but they only suffered minor injuries. There were 6 deaths, 4 were Muggle and 2 were Wizards.'

'That's horrible,' Hermione said, shaking her head in disgust, 'alright Arthur I'd better go, I'm sure the Minister will probably want me to work earlier tomorrow to help with the clear up.'

'Do you have anyone to watch Rose?' Arthur asked and Hermione sighed, 'No, not if Ginny's at the hospital. I can't ask Draco to watch Rose, he'll probably be working.'

'Molly and I can take her if you'd like,' Arthur offered and Hermione shook her head, 'No, no, you'll have a handful with the Potter children,' she said with a chuckle, 'I'll give my Mum a call and ask her to watch Rose.'

'Okay, take care Hermione,' Arthur said with a smile.

'You too Arthur,' Hermione said as she pulled her head from the fire and grabbed her mobile phone to try and convince her Mum to watch Rose the next day, she was probably going to have to be at work for 6am the next day.

* * *

It was almost midnight when the floo in Hermione's living room came to life and a very tired Draco stumbled through it. Hermione jumped up from the sofa and hurried over to Draco, she hugged him, 'Draco! Thank God you're okay! And thank you so much for saving Harry's life!'

Draco smiled at Hermione, 'no problem,' he said as he pulled back from the hug, 'thank you for watching Scorp.'

'It wasn't a problem;' Hermione said honestly, 'Scorpius was easy to look after.'

'I'll just go wake him and head home,' Draco said and as he tried to take a step forward he stumbled again. Hermione narrowed her eyes at him and said, 'No way Draco Malfoy, you are not apparating or flooing a child home in this state. You're exhausted.'

'No, no, I'm fine. I can't not go home, I have nowhere else to go,' Draco said, as he let Hermione sit him down on the sofa.

'You can stay here, Scorpius is asleep anyway, you don't want to go and wake him,' Hermione said gently.

'Is there room for me? I don't want to be a hassle,' Draco said, waking up slightly but he still had black bags under his eyes and was yawning.

'Well, there is room. I can transfigure the sofa for you and you can sleep in here, or I can sleep in here and you can have my room,' Hermione began, but Draco interrupted her, 'no, don't be silly; I won't put you out of your own room.'

Hermione chuckled and joked, 'we could always share, we're both adults.'

Draco didn't chuckle at this, he smirked, 'Are you offering to let me into your bed Granger?'

Hermione raised an eyebrow at this, 'I thought we'd agreed that you should call me Hermione,' she teased.

'Maybe I like calling you Granger sometimes,' Draco said smoothly and Hermione smirked back at him for this, 'well I suppose I'll let you, but only if you let me call you Malfoy.'

Draco grinned, 'deal,' he said and he leaned forward and kissed Hermione. They were both tired, but the kiss woke them up straight away. Hermione's eyes fluttered shut the moment that Draco's lips touched hers. She was surprised at first by how soft his lips were and by how much the kiss took her breath away. Ron had never done that, he'd never kissed her gently like Draco was doing at the moment.

When the kiss broke Hermione gasped in surprise and caught Draco's eye, he smirked at her, 'So is that offer of your bed still open?'

Hermione grinned and grabbed his hand, she led him through the kitchen and then they tiptoed into Hermione's bedroom.

**TBC **


	5. And the Walls Came Down

**The War is Over**

**Chapter 5 - And the Walls Came Down  
**

When Hermione woke up she had a smile on her face as she stretched and open her eyes. She frowned as she looked at the empty spot next to her on the bed where Draco had been the night before. She noticed a piece of parchment on the bedside table and picked it up.

'_Good Morning Hermione,_

_I took the liberty of asking Mr. Shacklebolt when he wanted you to arrive for work today. He told me he didn't need you in until 9am so don't worry when you wake up and realise its 8am. I hope you don't mind, but I said hello to your Mother this morning when she came to pick Rose up, and I gave both the kids breakfast and dropped Scorpius off with Theo. I had to go to work early to help with the rounds from yesterday's attack. I hope to see you later; I'll drop by your office at lunch time._

_Draco.'_

Hermione smiled as she read the note, she glanced at the time and sure enough it had just gone 8am so she got up and got dressed quickly and grabbed some breakfast before rushing through the house to the fireplace. She liked to arrive at work half an hour early whenever she could and as it was she arrived in her office at 8.30am on the dot. She passed the morning by signing off on releases for newspaper articles about the attack and by signing off on search warrants the Aurors had released on behalf of the Minster whilst Kingsley himself visited the scene of the attack.

Kingsley arrived back in his office just after 10am and smiled at Hermione, 'Tough morning,' he said with a sigh as he hung his jacket up. Hermione smiled sympathetically, 'I can imagine.'

Kingsley glanced at his watch, 'You can have half an hour,' he said, 'if you want to go and visit Harry in St. Mungo's.'

Hermione's eyes lit up as she asked, 'are you sure?'

Kingsley smiled at her, 'Go now before I change my mind,' he said and Hermione chuckled as she quickly got up and grabbed her coat.

* * *

Draco had woken up with a grin and had silently gotten dressed; he tried very hard not to wake Hermione. He kissed her lightly on the forehead and tiptoed out of her room and across the hall into Rose's room where Scorpius was also sleeping.

'Scorp,' Draco said quietly as he gently shook Scorpius awake, the boy yawned but sat up.

'Rose,' Draco whispered as he did the same to the girl who mumbled a little and then sat up in her bed.

'Rose your Mummy is very tired, so I'll make you breakfast today, but you've got to be very quiet so we don't wake her up, okay?'

Rose nodded and smiled, Scorpius nodded too and 5 minutes later Rose had gotten changed and made her way into the kitchen and Draco had transfigured Scorpius into clean clothes. Draco couldn't help but smile as he sat and ate breakfast with his son and Hermione's daughter. It felt domestic, but it was something he felt he'd been missing slightly since Astoria's death.

'Thank you for breakfast Draco,' Rose said politely as she put her bowl in the sink and grabbed a book from the living room. Draco smiled and then answered the door when he heard a knock.

A woman with brown bushy hair similar to Hermione's and the same brown eyes was standing on the doorstep, 'Hello,' she said with an amused smile when she saw Draco.

Draco smiled, 'Ah, Hermione's Mother I assume,' he said as he let her in.

The woman nodded, 'Yes, I'm here to pick Rose up. Are you Hermione's new catch?' she asked.

Draco smiled at this and replied, 'yes, I suppose you could say I am.'

'And where is my daughter today?' Mrs. Granger asked to which Draco responded, 'she had a busy day yesterday so I thought I'd let her sleep.'

Mrs. Granger smiled at this response and at that point Rose ran over to her. Shortly after that they left so Draco took Scorpius to Theo's place and made his way into work. He had only just gotten onto the floor to start his rounds when a Medi-Witch approached him, 'Healer Malfoy, Mr. Potter is asking for you.'

Draco frowned at this, but looked up at the Medi-Witch, 'Is he still in intensive care?'

She shook her head, 'he was moved early this morning to the recovery ward,' she looked down at her clipboard, 'he's in room 6B.'

'Alright, I'll go talk to him before I start my rounds, thank you,' Draco said and he made his way to the staircase. Recovery was on the 3rd floor so after a jog there he was slightly out of breath, especially after the energetic late night he'd had the night before.

When Draco walked into Harry's room the ex Gryffindor was sitting up in bed and looked over to the door the moment Draco walked in.

'Ah, I was hoping to see you,' Harry said as he put his book down.

'Any particular reason why?' Draco asked curiously as he leant against the wall.

'Well, I wanted to thank you for saving my life,' Harry said honestly. Draco smiled at this, but shrugged, 'it's my job, and I guess it makes us even.'

'Not quite,' Harry said, 'I saved your life twice, I was invisible the second time.'

'Right,' Draco said as he shook his head in amusement.

'I also want to talk to you about Hermione,' Harry said as he fixed Draco with a curious gaze.

Draco was slightly worried, 'Okay...do continue.'

'What are your intentions with my best friend and pretty much adopted sister?' Harry asked him with narrowed eyes.

Draco was thrown by the question, 'Uh, why are you asking me this?'

'Because I feel I ought to, and because since I've just had a massive injury it's the only time I'll be able to do so without Hermione hitting me,' Harry said with a smirk, 'so Malfoy, do you plan on screwing her over?'

'All joking aside Potter, when we were in school I never gave Hermione a chance, I just saw her for what my Father told me she was. Now at this point in our lives we have something in common and I think we could have something more. I guess I just want to see what could be,' Draco said, completely serious.

Harry was pensieve for a moment, 'Spoken like a true Gryffindor Malfoy. I think the sorting hat might have been drunk when it sorted you.'

Draco snorted, 'No, I definitely belonged in Slytherin then, although if I was sorted again now maybe the outcome would be different.'

'In that case Malfoy, you have my permission to date her, but if you screw her over I _will _curse you into oblivion. Understood?' Harry asked, partly serious and partly joking.

Draco smirked, 'Deal Potter, but I'll fight you back,' he said and before anymore could be said Ginny made her way into the room, 'Oh, good morning Draco. Henderson is looking for you up in paediatrics; your 6 year old little girl from last night is in the OR again.'

'Damn,' Draco said quietly, 'well nice speaking to you Potter,' he said as he left the room in a hurry.

Ginny frowned at Harry, 'what the hell was that about?'

'Just me and Malfoy coming to an agreement about Hermione,' Harry said with a smile and Ginny raised an eyebrow, 'you came to an agreement about your best friend dating your old arch enemy? Have they given you too much pain meds?'

Harry laughed at this, 'Hermione was right, the war is over and there isn't any point holding on to old grudges.'

'That was very wise of you,' Ginny said with a smile, 'now be a bit wiser and stop trying to take on 4 Death Eaters on your own.'

'Yes dear,' Harry said with a smile at his Wife.

* * *

When Hermione finally got to Harry's room it was just coming up on 10.30am. She walked in to find him on his own, he looked up and smiled when he saw her, 'Hermione, hey!' he said brightly, 'I'm so bored; Ginny had to go check on the kids.'

Hermione smiled as she sat down by Harry's bed, 'Kingsley gave me a half hour break to come and see you, so I can't stay long I'm afraid.'

'I talked to Malfoy this morning by the way,' Harry said casually and Hermione's eyes widened at this, 'you did? About what?'

'Oh you know, how good the Tornadoes have gotten, who the next Minister will be, you know the usual,' Harry said candidly and Hermione frowned at him, 'seriously?'

'Nah, I'm just kidding,' Harry said with a grin, 'we were talking about you obviously.'

'Harry! What were you saying?' Hermione asked, her cheeks slightly pink.

'Oh nothing in particular, I was just you know giving him permission to date you, passing on my blessing and all of that,' Harry said with a chuckle and Hermione smiled weakly, 'he doesn't need your permission to date me you know.'

'I know, but I like to give it,' Harry said with a smirk, 'and he's very keen on you by the way, his intentions are pure. Have you slept with him yet?'

Hermione smirked at this and said, 'Maybe.'

'You have then,' Harry said and Hermione laughed, 'we did, and it was actually all thanks to you nearly dying yesterday.'

Harry winked and said, 'Glad to be of service.'

Hermione rolled her eyes at this, 'I watched his son last night while he came in to operate on you and when he came back Scorpius was asleep so he stayed the night.'

'The whole night?' Harry asked and Hermione nodded.

Harry whistled, 'Well, it's getting fairly serious then.'

'I guess you could say so,' Hermione said, seeming slightly anxious about this.

'So what's happening next then?' Harry asked, sensing that Hermione was uneasy.

Hermione sighed, 'Well he was supposed to be coming round on Saturday and he said he'll stop by for lunch today, but I'm not so sure anymore.'

'You're doing it again, aren't you?' Harry asked casually and Hermione groaned and rested her head on the edge of Harry's bed.

'I'm not freaking out Harry,' Hermione said, her voice slightly muffled.

'Yes, you are,' Harry said, vaguely amused by his best friend's behaviour, 'Hermione you have to stop running away the moment things get serious.'

'I know,' Hermione said with a sigh and with that she got to her feet, 'I'd better get back to work Harry, there is a lot of paperwork about this attack.'

'How are the Aurors getting on?' Harry asked and Hermione replied, 'Well I only sign off on the warrants and such, but they have a warrant to arrest MacNair and search his house, he's the only one that got away. The others are in holding in Azkaban.'

'Who were they all?' Harry asked as Hermione picked up her handbag.

'MacNair, Yaxley, Dolohov and Avery,' Hermione replied, she leaned down and kissed Harry on the cheek, 'get better soon Harry,' she said as she left the hospital room and tried to keep her head down as she made her way to the fireplaces so she could get back to her office. She really didn't want to bump into Draco right now.

* * *

Hermione usually spent her lunch time hours in her office. In fact she usually spent them pouring over her paperwork while attempting to make it through a sandwich. However, today was different. After her talk with Harry she was freaking out about things with Draco getting too serious and she really didn't want to have lunch with him and have to explain that to him.

So, Hermione was avoiding Draco. And by avoiding, yes, she was sitting in the toilet eating a sandwich and trying to balance her paperwork on her lap. She glanced at the time on her watch every so often and when the hour was over she snuck out of the toilets, and made her way along the corridor to her office, keeping her eyes peeled. Hermione cursed as she neared her office and saw Draco coming out of it with Kingsley. She ducked into the nearest empty office and prayed that they wouldn't see her as they walked along the corridor on the way to the elevators.

'Well thank you Minister for an intriguing lunch hour. I value your views on the hospital, you can count on my vote in the next election,' Draco was saying.

Kingsley laughed, 'Ah I appreciate the sentiment Mr. Malfoy, but this is my last term. Time to let somebody new step up. I'm only sorry Hermione herself isn't interested.'

'Oh as am I,' Draco said sincerely, 'but I understand where she's coming from, raising a child on your own is difficult enough when you don't have that kind of pressure.'

Hermione sighed, he was going into Harry's hospital room and talking to him, he was talking to her boss and turning up for lunch and dropping her daughter off in the morning. This was all far too fast and she couldn't handle it. She leant against the wall and closed her eyes.

'I'll let Hermione know that you dropped by,' Kingsley said as he and Draco walked by her hiding place without looking in and seeing her.

'Thank you Minister, have a nice day,' Draco said as they reached the elevators. Hermione stopped holding her breath but stayed in her hiding place for another 5 minutes just in case. She sighed deeply as she finally escaped and took refuge in her office. Thankfully she didn't see Kingsley for the rest of the day and she made sure to keep her head down on her way to the fireplaces.

Hermione got teased by her Mother when she dropped by to pick up Rose and by the time she got home to the flat all she wanted to do was sleep, but she knew she had to give Rose her dinner and get her settled. They talked about ordinary things like what Rose had done with her Grandmother and how Hermione's day had been, and then Draco was brought up.

'Draco made me my porridge this morning,' Rose said as she and her Mother were sitting on the sofa together reading after dinner, 'and he made it better than you do.'

'Did he?' Hermione asked, trying to force a smile.

Rose nodded, 'it was really yummy!'

'That's good sweetheart,' Hermione said half-heartedly, she sighed and rubbed her head, she felt a headache coming on.

Thankfully Rose didn't mention Draco again for the rest of the evening and by the time her daughter was in bed Hermione had made a decision. She grabbed some parchment and a quill and with a heavy sigh started to write.

'_Dear Draco,_

_I'm afraid I have to cancel our dinner 'date' for Saturday night. I have a very busy schedule at the moment with work and I just don't have the time. I hope you enjoy the rest of your week and I apologise for this inconvenience,_

_Hermione.'_

Hermione sent the letter off with her owl and made her way into her bedroom where she fell into a troubled sleep.

* * *

When Draco Malfoy sat down for his breakfast on Wednesday morning to sort through his post, read the paper and eat some cereal he never expected to get the shock he did. He made his way downstairs in a good mood, he had even whistled as he made Scorpius his breakfast and then he sat down with a steaming hot bowl of porridge and glanced at the headline of the Daily Prophet, it was a big memorial to all who had died in the attack which he didn't want to read over breakfast. He turned to the back and checked the Quidditch fixtures then pushed the paper to one side and started on his small pile of mail. He opened up a letter from Gringotts telling him he'd been paid and then a letter from Scorpius's tutor confirming that his grades had been good, as they always were. He reached the bottom of the pile and opened up the handwritten letter and his face fell when he read it.

'Dad, are you okay?' Scorpius asked and Draco nodded, he sighed, 'I'm fine Scorp, finish your breakfast and I'll drop you off at Blaise and Pansy's house, okay?'

Scorpius nodded and Draco left the room for a moment, he cursed loudly when he was out of Scorpius's hearing range, what had he done wrong this time? He'd gotten the impression that Hermione had really liked him so why would she just cancel out of the blue like that?

As Draco took a moment to calm down he decided that he would have to do something about it. So he took Scorpius to Blaise's and made pleasantries with Pansy and then he went into the hospital and clocked in, he did his rounds and then glanced at the clock, he had an hour until his first surgery, he had time to slip away.

Making sure nobody noticed Draco slipped out of the front doors of the hospital and transfigured into normal clothes, then he apparated to the entrance of the Ministry. 10 minutes later Draco Malfoy couldn't actually believe it, but he was standing outside of an office with a plaque on it saying 'Senior Auror – Harry James Potter'.

Draco took a deep breath and knocked on the door.

'Come in!' Harry's voice called from inside the office and after yet another deep breath Draco opened the door and walked in.

'Hey Malfoy,' Harry said casually when he saw the former Slytherin, 'do you want to take a seat?'

Draco was quite alarmed by the Gryffindors behaviour and sat down across from him, 'why are you not surprised that I'm here?'

'Because I know what Hermione's like,' Harry said with a small smile, 'now, tell me what you were going to tell me.'

'Well, I seem to have done something to annoy Hermione, but I have no idea what. One minute we were fine and then I got this in the post this morning,' Draco said with a sigh as he slid the letter over the desk to Harry who read it quickly.

'What I can tell you right away is that it's not you, every time a relationship gets remotely serious with a guy Hermione does this,' Harry said with a sigh, 'she seems to be afraid of committing, I assume it's because of what Ron did to her.'

'So what am I supposed to do about it Potter?'

'Well the fact you came here says a lot, quite brave actually. I maintain that the hat was drunk when you were sorted,' Harry said and at this Draco rolled his eyes.

'I couldn't exactly go to anybody else to ask for advice about Hermione, could I?' Draco asked sarcastically and Harry shook his head, 'but you could have just left it and you didn't so that's good. You came here; it doesn't matter quite how grudgingly.'

'Very grudgingly,' Draco grumbled, 'if the press see me in here we'll make tomorrows headlines.'

'Did you do anything particularly domestic with Hermione?' Harry asked curiously and Draco frowned, 'I don't think so, I mean I made Rose breakfast yesterday and spoke to Hermione's Mother...' Draco trailed off, 'that is quite domestic actually, isn't it?'

'Yeah, well Hermione doesn't like domestic,' Harry said with an eye-roll, 'domestic translates to her into serious and for her serious relationships only end in hurt.'

'So what am I supposed to do about it?' Draco asked with a groan, 'how can I make her not be freaked out by the idea of dating me?'

Harry snorted and replied, 'Nothing, you're Draco Malfoy.'

'Seriously Potter, I really like her,' Draco said honestly and Harry stopped fooling around, 'Alright, I'll take Rose tonight, and your kid too if you need me too. I'm babysitting while Ginny's at work anyway. That way you can turn up on her door and take dinner to her, try and talk to her about it, but I really don't know if it will work.'

'Okay,' Draco said simply, 'but I'll leave Scorpius with my friend, no offence or anything but we hated each other for years and I don't know you that well.'

'None taken,' Harry said with a smile, 'in fact I completely understand.'

Draco nodded and got to his feet, he turned as if to walk away but then he turned back around to face Harry again when he got to the door, 'Thanks Potter,' he said and the words felt funny on his tongue.

'No problem,' Harry said with amusement at the face Draco made upon thanking him. Draco gave Harry a nod and left the office and low and behold what was waiting outside of Harry's office? A bunch of photographers and reporters from the Daily Prophet. Draco swore and fought his way through them, he rushed back to the hospital as fast as he could.

* * *

When Hermione had gotten home from work on Wednesday night she had felt drained, both physically and emotionally so when Harry had popped his head through the fire and had asked if she minded Rose staying the night Hermione had said that she didn't mind at all. She had packed Rose a small night bag, kissed her on the cheek and told her to have a good time. As Rose vanished through the fire and Harry sent a message back through after to say she'd gotten to Grimmauld Place alright Hermione sighed contently and sank into the comfort of the sofa.

She didn't expect any company that night, and she especially didn't expect the doorbell to ring at 8pm when she was thinking about going to bed for the night. Hermione sighed and trudged to the door, she didn't bother looking through the keyhole as she wrenched it open.

'Malfoy!' Hermione exclaimed in surprise when she saw the blonde man standing on her doorstep.

'I thought we agreed on Draco?' The ex-Slytherin said with a smile, he was holding a bottle of wine and a paper bag.

'Uh, yeah, we did,' Hermione said sounding very distracted, 'sorry but why are you here?'

'Because I'm not going to let you throw away something that could be great just because you're scared,' Draco said simply, wondering if she was going to invite him in or not.

'You spoke to Harry, didn't you?' Hermione asked, slightly annoyed at her friend.

Draco nodded, 'Can you at least talk to me before you tell me to bugger off?'

Hermione sighed and opened the door slightly wider so that he could walk in. Draco made his way into the flat and followed Hermione into the living room, 'Talk away,' she said.

Draco put the bottle of wine and the paper bag down on the coffee table and said, 'Look Hermione, you might find this hard to believe but I really like you and I want to try and make something work with you, but you've got to let me in first.'

'Draco...it's not you, it's just-' Hermione began to say but Draco shook his head and interrupted her, 'it's just the fact that Ron left so you think everybody else will,' he filled in and Hermione was silent.

Draco sighed and sat down on the sofa, 'It was so hard for me to even go on a date after Astoria died, in fact the date with you was only my 3rd in 3 years,' he admitted, 'I was scared of meeting someone and falling for them and losing them like I did Astoria, but then Scorpius made me realise something.'

'What did he make you realise?' Hermione asked curiously.

'He told his Tutor that I wasn't happy and that he wished I could be, so I sat down and talked to him and he said he wished I'd find another woman to love so I could be happy again,' Draco admitted with a smile, 'and I realised that Astoria wouldn't hate me if I did fall in love again, she'd be happy that I was moving on with my life, so I stopped letting her memory get in the way of my future.'

'That's amazing that you got past it like that Draco, it really is,' Hermione said truthfully, 'but this is different, Ron isn't dead, he's just...' she trailed off.

'A git?' Draco asked and Hermione chuckled at that, 'Yeah,' she agreed with a small smile.

'I've not really been able to trust a man since Ron left,' Hermione confessed, 'I always think men are lying or trying to hide something from me and as soon as a relationship gets serious I remember how much it hurt when Ron left and how hard it was to raise Rose on my own,' Hermione shook her head and tried not to get upset.

'I understand that Hermione, but think about it this way. By not dating because you get scared all that you are doing is letting Ron win, by moving on and not letting it get in the way you could fall in love and be happy again and then he'd realise how much of an idiot he was for leaving,' Draco said, trying to get his point across without making Hermione hate him.

'I'd never even thought about it that way,' Hermione said and Draco smiled, 'you've got to give men a chance, some of us are alright you know?'

Hermione chuckled and said, 'yeah I guess you are right.'

'Do you like Chinese?' Draco asked as he pointed at the paper bag on the coffee table. Hermione grinned, 'I love it,' she admitted and then asked, 'Did Harry tell you that too?'

Draco shook his head as he opened up the bag and pulled out some plastic cartons of food, 'No, that was all me, but he is the reason Rose is staying over at Grimmauld Place.'

Hermione laughed at this, 'I should have known that you were behind it.'

'Wine?' Draco asked and Hermione nodded, 'I'll go get some glasses,' she said. Hermione and Draco both knew that with a wave of her wand she could have had the glasses on the coffee table, but Hermione wanted to be able to go out of the room for a moment to take a breather and Draco respected that so he waited as she reached into the kitchen cupboard and pulled out two wine glasses.

When Hermione returned to the living room with the glasses Draco filled them and handed one to Hermione who smiled.

'So Hermione, do you want to give this a try? A real try?' Draco asked and Hermione nodded, still smiling, 'Yes, I would love that.'

Draco grinned as he raised his glass, 'To new starts,' he said happily and Hermione toasted it too, they both sipped from their wine glasses.

Hermione smiled to herself as Draco started to tell her everything he'd gotten from the Chinese takeaway. Of all people Draco Malfoy had been the one to knock her wall down, with one heavy blow, and that probably should have bothered her, but it didn't.

Not one bit.

**TBC **

**A/N: Hope you liked it :D  
**


	6. Paparazzi

**The War is Over**

**Chapter 6 – Paparazzi**

Hermione Granger was a busy woman, she had warned Draco Malfoy about this when she had agreed to give things an official try with him, or in other words, when she began dating him. They sat up all night talking that night when Draco had turned up on her doorstep with wine and Chinese takeaway.

'_There __**is **__one other thing Draco,' Hermione said tentatively after she and Draco had agreed to be semi-official now._

_Draco smiled, 'you want to talk about the press,' he guessed._

_Hermione nodded, a little surprised, 'How did you know?'_

'_Hermione, you're the Deputy Minister for Magic,' Draco said simply, 'of course you want to keep our relationship out of the press.'_

'_Not forever,' Hermione assured Draco, and she meant that, 'just until Kingsley's term is up, and he's only got a month left.'_

'_I understand,' Draco said with a small smile._

'_Thank you,' Hermione said, she had never had anyone who understood her this way before and she appreciated Draco all the more for it, 'but you do know with Kingsley's term ending I'll be really busy and with your work schedule-'_

'_Hermione,' Draco said, pressing his finger against her lips to shut her up, 'stop trying to be a know-it-all and plan everything, we'll find time.'_

_Hermione knew she was just making up excuses so she stopped talking, instead she merely nodded and didn't object when Draco kissed her. _

Hermione was smiling as she pulled herself out of her daydream, she was working and she was supposed to be busy scheduling meetings for Kingsley but she kept drifting off into daydreams like this. She and Draco saw each other often enough for two people with busy schedules, they snuck in lunch breaks whenever they could and dinner dates when they weren't working overtime. Most of the time they brought Rose and Scorpius along to their dinner dates, it was so much easier than trying to find a babysitter all of the time.

Hermione had been busier than ever, but she was also happier than she had been in a long time, something she was fairly sure that all of her friends had picked up on. She knew that Harry and Ginny had, they had both teased her for her newfound happiness when she turned up to pick Rose up the morning after her long talk with Draco. The time flew by with Hermione being so busy and grabbing free moments with Draco whenever she could, and before she knew it they had been 'officially' together for a month.

'Hey,' Draco said with a grin as he walked into Hermione's flat to meet her quickly while she was on her lunch break.

Hermione looked up from the bar in the kitchen where she was sitting filling in forms, 'Oh hey Draco,' she said happily although she was slightly distracted.

'Do you ever stop working?' Draco asked almost fondly as he handed her a sandwich and a cup of coffee from a brown paper bag.

'At the moment? No,' Hermione replied with a sigh, she was exhausted and fed up.

'Well you're stopping and having lunch with me, at least for 5 minutes,' Draco said as he watched her sip her coffee, 'if anyone at the Ministry asks tell them I kidnapped you.'

'Yeah I'm sure that story in the press would do both of us _so _much good,' Hermione said sarcastically, not lifting her eyes from her paperwork.

'Nah, I've had worse published about me,' Draco remarked.

'Like what?' Hermione asked, vaguely amused as she looked up from her work to glance at him.

'Well how about that time Potter and I met up to make that truce of ours after the war and the press printed that we were together?' Draco said, he looked disgusted just at the thought.

Hermione raised an eyebrow at the former Slytherin, 'so let me get this straight,' she said as she tried hard not to laugh, 'you think a story about you and Harry is worse than one about you kidnapping someone?'

'Uh yeah,' Draco said as if this were obvious which made Hermione laugh loudly.

'I much prefer it when you laugh rather than stress,' Draco said with a fond smile at Hermione.

She smiled back as she looked down to the form once more, 'I don't enjoy being stressed either, despite what Harry may say about me thriving in high pressure environments,' Hermione admitted as she ticked a few boxes and signed at the bottom of the page.

'Judging from the stories I've heard I wouldn't agree,' Draco said, smirking slightly as he cocked his head at her.

Hermione pushed the form to one side and looked up once more, 'What stories have you heard?' she asked.

'Well Longbottom told me some interesting ones,' Draco said with a grin, 'like the one about you and devils snare.'

Hermione shook her head as she anticipated what was coming.

'You realised what it was and that light would kill it but when Potter asked you to light a fire you said 'but there isn't any wood',' Draco was looking at her as she hid her head in her hands, 'is that actually true?'

'I may be classed as the brightest witch of my age but believe it or not there are exceptions to that,' Hermione admitted with a pale pink blush on her cheeks, 'that really did happen.'

Draco laughed heartily at this, 'I could have sworn Longbottom was having me on,' he said with a smile.

Hermione shook her head, still blushing slightly and bit into the sandwich that Draco had brought her, 'I am sorry about this,' she said as she motioned to the stack of paperwork, 'work is crazy at the moment-'

'I understand,' Draco chuckled as he cut her off, 'you don't have to make excuses all of the time.'

'Well thankfully it's almost over,' Hermione said with a sigh of relief, 'the new Minister will be elected on Friday and once Kingsley had said his goodbye speech and stepped down I'm out of the politics game.'

'You sound so upset about that,' Draco joked sarcastically.

'You know my opinion of that world,' Hermione said darkly as she ate her sandwich, 'I can't wait for it to be over.'

'Well in that case I invite you to the Manor on Saturday,' Draco said with a chuckle, 'you and Rose, we can have lunch to celebrate.'

'Sounds like a great idea to me,' Hermione said with a tired smile.

'You look exhausted Hermione,' Draco said, gently touching her face, 'when was the last time you slept through the whole night?'

Hermione yawned at the mention of sleep, 'I don't know, a couple of weeks ago I guess.'

'That settles it,' Draco said, 'after the election on Friday I'm taking you on a week long holiday where you'll do nothing but sleep.'

Hermione laughed and shook her head, 'I'll be fine, I just need one night where I don't need to worry about the next day,' she admitted.

'Well at least it will all be over soon and you'll finally be able to relax,' Draco said with a smile.

Hermione still found it hard to deal with this change in Draco. The boy she had known in their Hogwarts days didn't show his feelings. Then again Draco had moments of being a completely different person and moments when Hermione could see the insecure Slytherin boy. She supposed these sides to him had always existed but she had just never seen them before.

'I've got to head, I stole a few minutes but work is pretty busy,' Draco said as he got to his feet and kissed her quickly on the cheek, 'I'll see you Saturday.'

'See you,' Hermione said, still smiling as Draco apparated from the room.

* * *

When Saturday rolled around it didn't feel like a few days since Hermione had seen Draco, it felt like weeks. The amount of work she had done in 3 days was astounding and as she stood by the fireplace in her flat dressed in something that wasn't her work clothes or her pyjamas she felt so relieved.

'Is it time yet?' Rose asked excitedly, 'I want to see Scorpius!'

'It's time,' Hermione said with a chuckle as she threw some floo powder into the fire and said clearly, 'Malfoy Manor, sitting room.'

The fire roared to life and Hermione smiled at her daughter, 'go through sweetheart, I'll follow you.'

This was normal for Rose so she didn't hesitate in walking into the fireplace. Hermione waited until she had vanished and then followed her, stepping out of the fireplace in the sitting room of Malfoy Manor where Draco and Scorpius were both waiting for them.

'Hey,' Draco said, greeting Hermione with a hug and a light kiss on the lips as their two children rushed out of the room and loudly clambered up the stairs.

'Hi,' Hermione said with a genuine smile.

'You look brighter,' Draco said, happy that she didn't seem so stressed.

'I feel better,' Hermione admitted.

'So the election went well?' Draco asked as he led her out onto the patio in the back garden where the sun was shining.

'It went without a hitch,' Hermione said with a smile.

'I thought Kingsley's farewell speech was good,' Draco commented as he clicked his fingers and handed Hermione a glass of wine.

'I wrote about 90% of it,' Hermione said sheepishly, 'although that's a secret that has to stay between us.'

'My lips are sealed,' Draco said, pretending to zip his mouth shut and throw away the key which made Hermione laugh.

'I'll bet Rose is glad to have you back to normal,' Draco added as they looked out over the gardens. Hermione loved the outside of Malfoy Manor, the inside as grand as it was scared her slightly and reminded her too much of Draco's Father.

'She hasn't shown it if she is,' Hermione said with a chuckle, 'all I've heard from her since Wednesday has been how excited she is about the love potion she's going to make with Scorpius.'

'You don't think they can really make a love potion, do you?' Draco asked, concern flashing through his eyes for a moment.

Hermione shook her head and said in an undertone, 'the instructions I gave her were made up.'

'Ah, thank Merlin for that,' Draco remarked, 'those two would cause havoc if they really did manage to create a love potion.'

Hermione shook her head at the thought, 'Yes, you're right about that.'

'Speaking of the kids I'll just go and call them down for lunch,' Draco said, he got to his feet and kissed Hermione on the forehead as he made his way back into the house. He climbed the stairs quickly and was suspicious when he saw the door to Scorpius's bedroom was shut. He heard giggling inside, that was never a good sign.

'Scorp, Rose!' Draco called as he knocked on the bedroom door, 'lunch is ready!'

'Okay Dad,' Scorpius called back and seconds later the door opened. The two children emerged looking innocent, although maybe a little too innocent.

'We're eating on the patio,' Draco said as he led the children down the stairs, still suspicious, 'what were you two doing earlier?'

'Nothing,' Rose and Scorpius said in unison.

Draco shook his head in amusement and decided to leave the matter there as he and the two kids reached the outdoor table and sat down for a light lunch.

'Are you alright?' Draco asked Hermione, placing his hand atop hers. Scorpius and Rose were too busy whispering to each other to take in much of what was being said by their parents.

She was frowning slightly and staring into the distance, 'I'm fine,' Hermione said, 'I just have a bad feeling.'

Draco frowned too, 'What kind of bad feeling?' he asked.

Hermione sighed, glancing at the kids to make sure that they weren't listening, 'You'll probably think this is stupid,' she admitted, 'but during the war I just got this feeling…a really bad feeling in my stomach whenever something was wrong.'

'I think everyone got a similar feeling during the war Hermione,' Draco said quietly, 'and it was the smart ones who decided to pay attention to it,' he added.

'I'm sure it's nothing,' Hermione said, trying to shake the feeling off, 'I just felt like I was being watched.'

Draco looked around. The garden was secure, surrounded by a large stone wall that was difficult to climb, there was even barbed wire atop it to stop anyone from climbing over it.

'I doubt anyone would be watching,' Draco said honestly, 'you can see how secure the wall is, and the Manor is unplottable.'

Hermione forced a smile and tried to eat something, 'You're right, I'm probably just imagining things. After all, I am tired.'

As lunch went on Hermione gradually felt more relaxed and once everyone had finished eating she forgot all about the feeling in her stomach and let herself have fun. Even though it was only the beginning of March it was lovely and warm, thanks to Draco's magical weather dome around the garden, something a lot of rich Witches and Wizards used.

Rose and Scorpius had wanted to go for a walk to the fountain garden at the far end of the gardens so Draco and Hermione decided to use it as an excuse to make sure the garden was secure. They held hands as they walked around the garden with the kids a few feet in front of them, Draco mumbled revealing charms around the whole walkway and nothing flagged up so by the time they reached the fountain garden Hermione was sure that she had just been paranoid because of how tired she was.

Hermione had never seen this garden before but she loved it from the moment that they walked into it. The garden was closest to the wall around the property and from here Hermione could see just how high it was and how dangerous it seemed to be with the barbed wire atop it. This made her feel better as she watched Rose and Scorpius splash around in one of the fountains. Draco had assured her that there were no fish in it and that the water was clean.

'Scorp uses it as a pool every summer,' Draco said with a chuckle from where he and Hermione were sitting in another fountain with their feet dipped in the water. They were close enough to be keeping an eye on the children although both of them had already been taught how to swim and the water only came up to their knees.

'I take Rose to Muggle swimming pools,' Hermione said, wondering how Draco might react to that news, 'that's where I taught her how to swim.'

'I taught Scorp in the pool in the Manor,' Draco said, not blinking an eye at Hermione's talk of Muggle things.

'You have a pool in that place?' Hermione asked, shaking her head in disbelief.

'Yeah, it's in the basement,' Draco said nonchalantly and Hermione realised with a jolt how different their lives really were.

'We really do live in two different worlds,' Hermione said as she looked down at their bare feet.

'We do,' Draco agreed, 'but the chemical reaction when two different worlds collide is great, you've got to admit,' he added as he grabbed Hermione's hand.

She smiled as she intertwined her fingers with his, 'Yeah, it is pretty great,' she admitted.

* * *

When Hermione woke up on Monday morning it felt strange not to have to go into work. She had an upcoming meeting with McGonagall about the promised Transfiguration job she had given up her politics career for, later this week.

After a few nights of sleeping normally Hermione felt much more revitalised as she walked into the kitchen where she found Rose sitting on a bar stool reading a book.

'Morning Mummy,' Rose said happily when Hermione walked into the kitchen and poured herself a cup of coffee.

'Good morning sweetie,' Hermione said as she kissed her daughter on the cheek, 'did you make yourself breakfast?'

Rose shook her head so Hermione set about making herself and her daughter some breakfast. She had literally just sat down and taken the first bite from her toast when a tap on the window alerted her to the owl outside.

'I'll pay it Mummy!' Rose said eagerly, she jumped from her feet and grabbed some money from the jar by the window. She stood on a stool and opened the window then slipped two Knuts into the owl's pouch.

'Here's your paper Mummy,' Rose said as she handed her Mother that days edition of the Daily Prophet.

Hermione unrolled the paper as she sipped her coffee and choked slightly when she saw the front page.

'Mummy, is something wrong?' Rose asked, for such a little person she had so much love.

'I'm fine,' Hermione lied, 'stay here Rose.'

Rose didn't argue, she knew when to obey her Mother and something in Hermione's voice told her that something was wrong.

When she was alone in the living room Hermione looked down at the front page of the paper properly and tried to comprehend how it had happened as her heart felt like it was going to beat out of her chest.

'_**WAR HERO HERMIONE GRANGER IN RELATIONSHIP WITH EX-DEATH EATER DRACO MALFOY'**_

The words screamed at her from the page and paralysed her. The article itself wasn't long but there were pictures and they made Hermione's stomach turn. The pictures had been taken on Saturday, that much was clear, and there were three. The first picture was of Hermione, Draco, Rose and Scorpius eating lunch together on the patio with Draco's hand resting on Hermione's. The second picture was of them walking through the gardens, Draco and Hermione were holding hands with their children running slightly ahead of them. The third and final picture made Hermione feel like she might be physically sick, the photographer must have been so close to take it. It was of her and Draco dangling their feet into the fountain and holding hands as they watched Rose and Scorpius play together.

Hermione swallowed a lump in her throat as she read the article itself.

'_A scandal hits the Wizarding world today in the form of Hermione Granger and her relationship with Draco Malfoy, son of Lucius Malfoy. The younger Malfoy claims to be a 'reformed man' and works as a children's Healer at St. Mungo's Hospital, however he committed many crimes during the war that Hermione Granger fought against him. _

_The relationship seems to come out of the blue, but the pair may have met when the then Deputy Minister for Magic took her daughter to the hospital following an incident involving accidental magic. _

_We wonder how Mr. Malfoy's acquaintances will take this news that his new flame is a war hero, and a Muggle-born at that, something he was very opinionated about during his days at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. We wonder how the famous Harry Potter will take the news of his best friend cavorting with someone of Mr. Malfoy's status. _

_It seems this relationship is comfortable given the closeness of Mr. Malfoy and Miss. Grangers children, both to previous partners. This scandalous relationship may just be a blip, but if not then it could be the first inter-house of its kind since the war. Watch this space.'_

Hermione's mouth was dry, she hadn't wanted the news of their relationship to get out into the press this way, but the article hadn't been written by Skeeter. In fact Hermione had never heard of the reporter who had written the article.

Strangely enough it wasn't the article that had Hermione so worked up, it was the fact that someone had been so close to them on Saturday when she had felt carefree and safe. The war had made her paranoid, but as the years went on she grew less scared of the world, and this had given her a jolt back to how dangerous it could still be.

'Put your shoes on Rose,' Hermione said, trying to control her voice so that it didn't shake, 'we're going to Uncle Harry's house.'

'Okay Mummy,' Rose said as she grabbed her shoes from the door and walked into the living room to put them on. Hermione took a deep breath and composed herself, when she smiled at her daughter she felt like she had a little more control over the situation, but she was still making her way to Harry's because she knew that she would feel safe there.

* * *

'Dad!' Scorpius called as Draco lazily made his way downstairs on Monday morning, it was his day off so he wasn't in a hurry to get up.

'What's up Scorp?' Draco called as his feet landed on the cold marble floor of the entrance hallway.

'There's pictures of you in the paper!' Scorpius called from the kitchen.

This made Draco stop in his tracks, why would there be pictures of him in the paper? It couldn't be to do with Hermione, could it? He hurried into the kitchen and sat down at the dining room table, he was trying to at least pretend he was calm for Scorpius's sake.

'Pass me the paper then Scorp,' Draco said as calmly as he could, 'let me see these pictures.'

Scorpius pushed the paper across the table to Draco who glanced down at the front page and realised that his fears had proved to be true. He saw the headline, glaring at him with its large bold capital letters.

'Dad, are you okay?' Scorpius asked as he saw the expression on his Fathers face change.

'I'm fine Scorp,' Draco lied easily, 'I'm just reading the paper.'

The headline stated that Hermione the war hero was with he, Draco, the death eater. It made him angry, he wanted to rip the paper up, the Prophet always painted him as some evil bastard death eater who couldn't possibly have reformed and it frustrated him because it wasn't an accurate or fair description.

He scanned the article, it wasn't as bad as it could have been in fairness. It just told the world that he and Hermione were in a relationship and mentioned how this was apparently 'scandalous' which made Draco scoff.

The article itself, didn't bother Draco, the headline made him want to scream, but the pictures did more than that. They scared him because those pictures meant that somebody had been around his house on Saturday, somebody had been close enough to take them and with how tight security on the Manor was that terrified Draco.

Draco got to his feet and turned to his confused son, 'stay here for a moment Scorp,' he said as he left the room and went into the one next door where he threw some floo powder into the fire.

'Nott Manor, sitting room,' Draco said clearly as the fire roared to life. He closed his eyes and put his head in the fire, opening his eyes to see that Theo's sitting room was empty.

'Theo!' Draco called loudly and his friend must have heard the urgency in his voice because his footsteps banged loudly down the stairs.

'What is it?' Theo asked as he walked into the sitting room wearing only his boxers, 'you sounded urgent.'

'I am,' Draco admitted, 'I'm worried about the Manors security, can I send Scorp through?'

'Yeah of course,' Theo said, 'you're lucky, I have the day off.'

'Thank Merlin,' Draco sighed, 'he'll be through in a couple of minutes, thanks for doing this Theo.'

'No problem Draco,' Theo said, 'he is my Godson after all.'

Draco nodded as he pulled his head out of the fireplace, 'Scorp!' he called.

His son walked into the room a few seconds later, he still seemed confused at the way his Father was acting, 'you're spending some time with Uncle Theo today, okay?'

'Okay Dad,' Scorpius said as Draco threw some more floo powder into the fire, 'he's waiting for you on the other side. Have a good day.'

Scorpius hugged his Father and Draco kissed his son on the forehead before he disappeared through the fire which faded back to its red embers after he was safely with Theo in Nott Manor.

The moment Draco knew that his son was safe he hurried up to the library on the first floor and floo-ed his Head of Security. He knew it would take him a few minutes to arrive so Draco paced backwards and forwards in the large room which was a library with a large desk in the middle so that it acted as a study too.

The anxious feeling Draco had in his stomach grew as he looked out of the large windows in the Library out onto the grounds of the Manor. He had no idea how someone had managed to take those pictures, especially with the wall acting as a barricade.

Draco jumped when the double doors to the Library opened and his Head of Security walked through wearing black dress robes and looking as professional as ever.

'What happened?' Seamus Finnigan asked. It may have surprised some people, the fact that Seamus Finnigan was on Draco Malfoy's payroll as his Head of Security, but he was good, and in the 4 years Draco had employed him Seamus hadn't been unable to solve the problems that arose in Draco's life.

'This,' Draco said, shoving the Prophet into Seamus's hands.

Seamus scanned the article, noticing immediately that the pictures were taken in the back garden of the Manor, 'this shouldn't have been possible Sir.'

'I'm aware of that, I don't pay you to tell me what's not possible, I pay you to stop it happening in the first place!' Draco remarked hotly, 'I built that wall to keep people like that out!'

'Sir,' Seamus began, 'I'll get to the bottom of-'

'You better Finnigan!' Draco shouted as he picked up a glass ornament and threw it against the wall where it shattered loudly, 'I've sent my son away and he isn't coming back here until you have determined that the Manor and its grounds are secure!'

'Yes Sir,' Seamus said quickly, 'I'll get my people on it immediately.'

Draco shook his head angrily as he looked out of the window, 'Tell me Mr. Finnigan, how did this happen?'

'I don't know Mr. Malfoy,' Seamus admitted, 'without doing a sweep of the perimeter all I can do is guess.'

'Well tell me your guesses then,' Draco snapped.

'A reporter could have found a way to get into the garden despite the wall, or they may have taken the photographs from the wall, but I find this highly unlikely as the Manor is unplottable. My best guess is that someone you know sent this reporter to your home, someone who knows where the Manor is located and its weak spots,' Seamus said, he was a professional and he didn't like working for Draco very much but the pay was better than it would be working for any other private client.

'Then find the person who did this right away,' Draco hissed angrily.

Seamus nodded, waiting for Draco to cool down slightly. A moment later Draco closed his eyes and took a deep breath. He unlocked a cabinet behind him which was sealed with 3 locks and a further two locking charms. From a drawer in the cabinet he pulled a file which he handed to Seamus.

'This contains information about every person who knows the location of the Manor,' Draco said, his voice slightly calmer but still rough with anger.

'Find the person responsible for this, and tell me right away when you do,' Draco demanded, he had changed, he was a better man, but then when things like this happened he felt like the bastard he had been in his darkest days. Draco's biggest fault was definitely his hot, or cold as it could be, temper.

Seamus nodded once more as he took the file from Draco, 'Yes Sir.'

**TBC **

**A/N: So I'm getting into writing this again at the moment actually. Not sure how long it will be but if I were to give an estimate now I'd say between 20 and 30 chapters. I'm hoping to finish it before September (fingers crossed) so keep your eyes peeled for further chapters!**

**Also I don't like to be picky or mean when it comes to reviews and comments on my fanfiction, but a few people have said I can't spell and my grammar is wrong because I'm spelling things like 'realise' rather than 'realize'. I am not spelling wrong, I am spelling in the British way and people being mean about it are clearly American. I understand a lot of Americans may be reading this fanfic but I won't change the way I write and the way I was taught about spelling and grammar just because it makes a couple of picky Americans unhappy. Sorry for the rant, but things like that get under my skin a little!**

**Thanks for reading!**

**Holly**

**xxx **


	7. It's Like a Time Bomb

**The War is Over**

**Chapter 7 - It's Like a Time Bomb**

When Hermione appeared out of the fireplace in the kitchen of Grimmauld Place she was hugged immediately by Ginny.

'I saw the paper,' Ginny said as she let her friend go, 'how did it happen?'

'I'll tell you in a minute,' Hermione said, first looking down to her curious daughter who she didn't want to overhear this conversation, 'run upstairs and tell Al about that love potion you and Scorpius tried to make,' she said with a smile.

'Okay Mummy,' Rose said as she ran from the room and made her way rather loudly up the stairs.

Hermione sank into one of the chairs by the large table as Ginny started to make tea.

'I hate those vultures at the Prophet,' Hermione said, rubbing her head as it began to pound painfully.

'I know,' Ginny said, gently resting her hand on Hermione's shoulder as she brewed the tea, 'were you at Malfoy Manor when the pictures were taken?'

'Yeah,' Hermione sighed as Ginny set a steaming cup of tea down in front of her then sat down across from her at the table.

'We had a lunch date on Saturday and somehow the press got pictures,' Hermione elaborated as she sipped on her tea, 'but I don't understand how it happened Gin…I've seen the wall around the Manor and there is no way anyone should have been able to get past it.'

'What do you mean?' Ginny asked with a frown.

'I mean it's about 30 feet high and it's topped with barbed wire,' Hermione said, her stomach churning.

'Sounds welcoming,' Ginny said darkly.

'It isn't exactly pleasant,' Hermione admitted, 'but it was obviously built to stop things like this happening.'

'It clearly didn't do the job,' Ginny said, her eyes glancing towards the paper on the table.

'Clearly,' Hermione agreed, staring at the photos which still made her feel physically sick, 'do you mind if I stay here today until Harry gets back? I'm planning on asking him nicely to come and do an Auror sweep of my house. I don't feel safe there at the moment.'

'I understand,' Ginny said, 'and you can stay here for as long as you need too, don't worry about that.'

Hermione nodded, her head really hurting now, 'Thanks Gin,' she said, without Harry and Ginny's support after Ron's departure Hermione wasn't sure how well she would have coped, 'do you mind if I use the floo? I should probably talk to Draco about this whole thing.'

'Go ahead,' Ginny said with a smile as she got to her feet, 'I'll be supervising the monsters upstairs,' she added as she left the kitchen.

Hermione chuckled as Ginny left the room and threw some floo powder into the fireplace which roared to life as the flames turned emerald green.

'Malfoy Manor, library,' Hermione said clearly. She knew that it was Draco's day off today so he might not even be in the house, but if he was she was fairly sure he would be in the library.

* * *

When Seamus Finnigan left the library Draco sat down heavily in the comfortable chair behind his desk and shut his eyes as he felt a headache coming on. There were only a limited amount of people who knew the location of the Manor who weren't dead or in Azkaban. Almost all of those people were Draco's friends, people who he trusted, and he wondered if he had been naïve to trust so easily in the aftermath of the war.

He opened the locked filing cabinet behind him and quickly looked through it, he didn't use it very often anymore, it was a reminder of his past that he didn't like to think about. As far as he knew there were about 10 people who could have set that reporter on him, but he hated to think of himself as the paranoid asshole who was pointing fingers at people he knew and loved. He didn't want to go back to being that man, the kind of man he had been in the war, the man who didn't trust anyone around him.

Draco jumped when the fireplace in the library roared to life. Unlike the downstairs fireplace it was locked so the flames roared red instead of green until Draco unlocked it. He knew that the only people who were likely to call him on this fireplace were his Head of Security or Hermione. Given the fact Seamus had only just left his office Draco was fairly sure that it was the latter.

He got to his feet and mumbled the password to unlock the floo which then turned emerald green and sure enough Hermione's face appeared in the flames.

'I would say good morning,' Draco said as he hunched down by the fireplace, 'but it wouldn't be very accurate.'

'No,' Hermione agreed, 'it wouldn't be.'

'I take it that you've read the paper then,' Draco said somewhat darkly.

Hermione nodded and even through the fire Draco could tell that she looked stressed, 'Yeah, I'm at Grimmauld Place with Rose at the moment. I didn't feel safe in my flat.'

'I know how you feel,' Draco said truthfully, 'I've sent Scorpius to spend the day with Theo, I'm not convinced that the Manor is safe.'

There was a slightly awkward silence which Draco filled, 'I'm so sorry Hermione,' he said, feeling as guilty as he probably looked, 'I should have listened to you on Saturday. I was sure that the Manor was secure. I spent a lot of time and money on building that wall so people like that couldn't see into my life.'

'If the Manor is unplottable as you say it is, then there must only be a limited amount of people who could be behind it,' Hermione said, and Draco's stomach churned.

He contemplated telling her the truth, about Seamus and how he was investigating it as they spoke, but something held him back. Sending his Head of Security off to investigate people and snoop around was part of the thing Hermione probably hated him for. He had done it a lot after the war, he had run background checks on everyone before befriending them because he had been so paranoid. He didn't want Hermione to know about that darker side of him that he tried hard to put in the past. Instead he lied, 'You would be surprised at the amount of people who know the location of the Manor anyway.'

Hermione detected some unease in Draco's voice and she saw something flash across his face, but she passed it off as irritation about the fact the press had gotten so close to him.

'Are you upset about the article itself, or just the pictures?' Draco asked Hermione, he was changing the subject but he wanted to talk about it, he was a little anxious that Hermione's fear of a relationship getting serious might come into play more now that it was public knowledge.

'The article was about as nice as it could have been considering who I am and who you are,' Hermione admitted, hoping that this wouldn't offend Draco, 'but I suspect worse will follow now our relationship is public knowledge.'

'But, it doesn't…' Draco paused, feeling a little unsure of himself, 'it doesn't you know…scare you off, does it?'

Hermione smiled slightly, the first real smile of the day, 'It doesn't scare me off,' she promised, 'it would have happened sooner or later, I just wish it had been on our own terms.'

'As do I,' Draco said with a deep sigh.

'I need to go Draco,' Hermione said although it seemed like she didn't want to, 'I'm going to go to the Prophet and see what I can find out.'

'Haven't you lost any power you had there now that you are no longer the Deputy Minister for Magic?' Draco asked curiously.

Hermione nodded, a slightly evil smirk on her lips, 'I have in that sense, but I'm still the war hero and best friend of Harry Potter which usually gets me somewhere.'

Draco chuckled at this, 'Good luck,' he said, 'I'll see you soon hopefully, once this has all blown over.'

'I look forward to it,' Hermione said with a smile, 'bye Draco.'

'Goodbye Hermione,' Draco said as Hermione's head vanished from the fireplace.

* * *

Hermione went to the Prophet but had no luck, all she could find out about the reporter who had published the article was that he was a rookie fresh out of school and that the story he had published that morning was his first.

Feeling a little useless she spent the rest of the day helping Ginny out and playing with the kids until Harry got back from work later that evening. She didn't say anything throughout dinner because she didn't want the children to overhear, but she was fairly sure that Harry knew something was wrong, he had read the paper that morning after all and Hermione didn't normally just drop by like this out of the blue.

When dinner was over and the children were helping Ginny clear up Hermione quietly asked Harry, 'Can we have a word in private?'

Harry nodded and stealthily they left the room without any of the children noticing. The two friends made their way upstairs together to the library which was Harry's fortress away from the kids.

'What's up Hermione?' Harry asked the minute he had pushed the door shut.

'I assume you saw the paper this morning,' Hermione said as she paced the floor of the large library.

'I did,' Harry confirmed, watching Hermione carefully, 'what's worrying you?'

'I don't feel safe in my flat after it,' Hermione admitted, 'if Draco's Manor could be targeted with a wall that is 30 feet high then a reporter could easily get into my flat. It isn't exactly Fort Knox.'

Harry chuckled and said sarcastically, 'So this is your _subtle _way of asking me to do a sweep?'

Hermione smiled, Harry could still see through her after all of these years, 'I would appreciate it,' she admitted.

'If it makes you feel safe Hermione you know I'll do it in a heartbeat,' Harry said honestly as he walked past Hermione towards the door, 'I'll just tell Ginny and the kids. I assume you want to leave Rose here while we check it out?'

'Yes, I don't want to take Rose back there until I know it's safe,' Hermione said, Harry nodded and left the room.

Hermione sighed as she paced the room waiting for Harry to return, she just wanted to be able to go home and feel safe there.

'Alright Hermione, we're set to go,' Harry said as he returned, being careful to shut the door behind him. He threw some floo powder into the fireplace and clearly said Hermione's address, when the flames had taken Harry from the fireplace Hermione followed him.

* * *

'Mr. Malfoy, I have an update for you on the situation about the photographs,' Seamus said as he made his way into the library where Draco was still pouring over his personal files.

Draco leant forward in his chair and looked at Seamus, 'Continue,' he said.

'The reporter who published the article was fresh out of Hogwarts,' Seamus informed his boss, 'which makes it all the more likely that he was hired by someone who knew the location of the Manor.'

Draco raised an eyebrow at Seamus, 'And?'

Seamus shuffled uncomfortably, 'And uh, they didn't break into the garden. The photographs were taken from the wall. The reporter was hovering on a broom, he was disillusioned which explains why Hermione felt like someone was watching her.'

'That's Miss. Granger to you Finnigan,' Draco said somewhat coldly.

'I've known her for longer than you with all due respect Mr. Malfoy, I think that gives me the right to call her by her first name,' Seamus said, his eyes flashing angrily.

'You're at work therefore she's Miss. Granger to you. You can call her whatever you like when you're not at work,' Draco said simply, fixing Seamus with a glare, 'now this theory of yours is all fine and well Finnigan but I cast revealing charms around the garden and nothing came out of any of them.'

'That's because he wasn't in the perimeter of the property Mr. Malfoy, he was outside of it,' Seamus said, 'I found residue of the chemical produced from older broomsticks, I believe he was flying a Shooting Star.'

'A Shooting Star?' Draco asked with a snort, 'he _must _be desperate for money.'

'I think Mr. Malfoy it might be a good idea to put up stronger wards around the property, a shield charm perhaps to stop people from getting close enough to see over the wall,' Seamus suggested tentatively.

'I agree, and you can sort that out once you've tracked down who did this,' Draco said, 'Have you made any progress on that line of investigation yet?'

'No sir,' Seamus said slightly uneasily.

'That's all you have?' Draco asked in disbelief.

'Yes Mr. Malfoy,' Seamus said looking down at his feet.

'You have had _8 hours _and that is _all _you have?' Draco asked angrily, 'what the hell do I pay you for Finnigan? Get me a name!'

'Yes sir,' Seamus said as he quickly left the room.

Draco growled angrily as he picked up the same ornament he had thrown, smashed and repaired earlier, and threw it as hard as he could at the wall, again.

'It's like being in Hogwarts again,' Draco mumbled to himself, 'I'm surrounded by incompetent idiots,' he picked up another ornament and smashed that too, 'I should never have made a Gryffindor my Head of Security, it was _clearly _a job for a Slytherin,' he said with a groan, aware that he was talking to himself, 'once this is over I'm firing Finnigan and hiring Blaise,' he grumbled.

* * *

'Everything seems to be fine initially,' Harry said after he had done a basic sweep of Hermione's flat, 'but don't worry,' he added when he saw that Hermione still looked concerned, 'I'll do a more thorough sweep.'

'Thanks Harry,' Hermione said, she looked exhausted and stressed.

'I hate to say it Mione but it's been on my mind all day,' Harry said with a sigh as he made his way around the living room casting all sorts of spells under his breath, 'you've had issues with the press before but they've never been this intrusive until now when you just _happen_ to be dating Malfoy.'

Hermione sat down heavily on her sofa, her head was still aching dully, 'I know, I've been thinking about that all day too.'

'So you think it's his fault?' Harry asked quickly, much too quickly.

'I don't think he was behind it if that's what you're suggesting,' Hermione said as she narrowed her eyes at her best friend, 'but I do think someone in his life had something to do with it.'

'That's very cryptic,' Harry noted as he moved through to the kitchen to continue his complicated spells there.

Hermione followed him through and said, 'I just think someone must have hired that reporter…someone who knew the location of the Manor, it's unplottable after all.'

'Who would gain anything from selling your relationship with Malfoy to the press?' Harry asked with a frown.

'I don't know,' Hermione said honestly, 'that's what I've spent all day trying to figure out.'

'Well if I were you Hermione I'd worry less, it isn't good for you,' Harry said, finishing his final spell, 'the place is completely secure. No hidden listening in charms or any signs that someone has been in here recently who shouldn't have been. The only magical traces I found were yours and one that I think must have been Rose's because it was very unstable as only accidental magic is.'

'Thanks so much Harry,' Hermione said as she hugged her best friend, 'I really appreciate it.'

'Like I said, anytime,' Harry said, kissing Hermione on the cheek, 'I'll send Rose through when I get home.'

'Thanks again Harry,' Hermione said as Harry vanished from the fireplace through the emerald green flames.

* * *

The day after the article about her and Draco was published in the Prophet Hermione decided that she couldn't just hide herself away in the flat with Rose so she decided to take her daughter out to Diagon Alley for the day. Thanks to Harry she felt much more safe in her flat now, albeit it a little uneasy.

On Wednesday morning, two days after the article had been published, Hermione had her meeting with McGonagall at Hogwarts. She had gotten a floo call from Harry that morning to say good luck and another call moments after from Draco to say the same thing. Hermione knew she had practically been promised the job but she still felt nervous beforehand. She had nothing to worry about in the end however because the meeting turned out to be more a chance to arrange the terms of Hermione's job at Hogwarts rather than a job interview and when she returned home she was in a fantastic mood.

Hermione had only been home for about half an hour when the floo in her living room roared to life. She had locked it for security measures after her recent privacy scare.

Slightly uneasily Hermione unlocked the floo and was relieved to see Draco's face appear inside the fire.

'How'd it go?' He asked curiously.

Hermione smiled broadly as she hunched down by the fireplace, 'Great,' she said honestly, 'I start in September and Minerva asked me to take over as Head of Gryffindor too.'

'Merlin, not only am I dating a Gryffindor war hero, I'm now dating the _Head _of Gryffindor,' Draco joked sarcastically.

Hermione chuckled, 'We were arranging the terms today. Minerva needs to know before the end of May whether I want to stay in quarters at Hogwarts or not.'

'I didn't think there was a choice,' Draco said thoughtfully.

'Neither did I,' Hermione admitted, 'but apparently some teacher's apparate in and just spend the weekends at Hogwarts.'

'I suppose either way you'll have a lot of thinking to do about it,' Draco said as an emotion that Hermione couldn't identify flashed across his face.

'Yes,' Hermione agreed, 'I'll need to figure out what's best for Rose.'

Draco nodded, 'I'm glad it seemed to go well,' he said honestly, 'I better run, I need to get Scorpius to bed.'

'No problem, thanks for calling to ask how it went,' Hermione said with a smile as Draco said goodbye and his face vanished from the fireplace.

When the green fire extinguished the floo automatically locked again and Hermione got to her feet, still on a slight high from her meeting with McGonagall.

'Rose!' Hermione called as she wandered through the house.

'Coming Mummy!' Rose called back as she ran into the kitchen from her bedroom.

'It's bedtime sweetheart,' Hermione said, lifting her daughter up and carrying her back towards her bedroom.

'Mummy, I miss Scorpius,' Rose said sadly as Hermione tucked her into bed.

'I know you do Rose,' Hermione said as she picked up one of her daughters storybooks, 'but you'll see him at the weekend.'

'Can I have a happy story tonight Mummy?' Rose asked as she yawned and cuddled her toy unicorn.

'Of course you can,' Hermione said as she began to read one of the short stories in the book to Rose who drifted away slowly throughout the story but Hermione finished it anyway. She smiled at her peaceful sleeping little girl as she put the book back on the shelf, 'Goodnight sweetheart,' she whispered to Rose as she kissed her on the forehead and carefully tiptoed from the room pulling the door shut gently behind her.

* * *

Later that night Hermione was sitting in her living room reading up on the most recent advancements in Transfiguration. She was used to going to bed early as her old job sometimes required her to be in work for 6am so she was enjoying the luxury of being able to stay up a little later at the moment. Hermione had been so involved in her book she had barely noticed the time until she glanced at the clock and realised that it was past midnight.

She didn't have to go to work anymore, but Hermione still had to get up early with Rose in the morning so she got to her feet and decided it was time to go to bed. She yawned as she walked into the kitchen and poured herself a glass of water but frowned and put it down when she realised that something was wrong.

The bad feeling that had bothered her on Saturday was settling in the pit of her stomach and Hermione knew to listen to it this time. Something didn't seem right, but it took Hermione a moment to realise what it was. There was a horrible smell in the kitchen, Hermione wasn't sure how she hadn't smelt it before because it was hard to miss. It smelt like something was rotting but a smell like that wouldn't just come on so suddenly.

Hermione realised with a jolt what the smell was, she remembered it from the Muggle home she had grown up in. About a year before she came to Hogwarts a smell like this had filled the house and her parents had gotten terrified because the smell signified a gas leak. She didn't know how this could be possible in her house, Hermione didn't use the gas. She kept it turned off at the wall and cooked by magical methods, she knew how dangerous the gas could be and she decided that it seemed pointless to use it when she didn't need too.

With a horrible feeling in the pit of her stomach Hermione made her way to the utilities cupboard where the switches for the gas, electricity and water were. The cupboard was on her way to bed anyway so Hermione convinced herself that it was logical to check. She walked onto the laminate floor of the entrance hallway and pulled open the cupboard door. The water switch was off, and the electricity switch was on, but the gas switch which should have been off was also on.

Hermione gasped out loud at this and was immediately terrified. She hadn't turned the gas on, and she knew Rose hadn't either because Hermione had given her daughter strict orders to never go inside this cupboard. She knew that a gas leak was extremely dangerous and that anything could set it off, including activation of the floo network so Hermione knew she had to grab Rose and get out of the flat as soon as possible.

She took a deep breath about to go and grab Rose when something stopped her. She heard an almighty bang from outside of the flat, she paused, wondering what it could have been and then before she had time to think about anything, including an escape plan a further bang followed. This time it was clear that the bang was an explosion because it blew apart the wall of the hallway with incredible force and sent Hermione flying backwards into the cupboard door.

Hermione was conscious for only seconds after the explosion because when it threw her back she hit her head hard.

The explosion ignited the stand of coats by the front door and fire slowly began to spread, spouting poisonous fumes into the air which snaked into every room in the flat.

* * *

Draco Malfoy had never really been one for early nights, but he had been staying up later than even his normal bedtime lately. It had been 2 days since the article along with the pictures Draco was so angry about had been published in the Prophet and so far his Head of Security seemed to be entirely inadequate. He checked in twice a day and every time he had miniscule pointless information, by now Draco expected to at least know the name of the person who had violated his privacy this way.

He had tried to act as normal as possible for Scorpius who he had picked up later on Monday night when Seamus had informed him that a full sweep of the property and the perimeter had been done. He tried to act normal when talking to Hermione which he did at least once a day, he still hadn't mentioned anything to her about the investigation and it was begin to weigh on his shoulders like the weight of the world.

Draco had decided this Wednesday evening after briefly talking to Hermione via floo and taking Scorpius to bed, that if Seamus didn't deliver tonight he would sack him and hire someone better to do the job. He didn't like to fire people off the cuff like this, especially people like Seamus who he knew had a family to support, but at the moment he wasn't doing his job.

With Scorpius in bed Draco had practically locked himself up in his library as he had done every night since the article. He had been on a good path, he had felt much better about his life and the man he was becoming. This past month with Hermione especially had been amazing, he hadn't felt so content since he and Astoria had first started dating. He felt sick with anger at himself for letting this article drive him back into the dark, paranoid place he had been in 7 years ago.

The double doors to the library burst open taking Draco by surprise slightly. He leant forward in his chair, placing his elbows on his desk as Seamus strode towards him holding a brown envelope.

'Does that triumphant look on your face mean that you finally have something for me?' Draco asked hopefully.

'I've got more than a name, let's put it that way Mr. Malfoy,' Seamus said as he sat down in the uncomfortable chair on the other side of Draco's desk.

'Go on,' Draco said, his eyes lighting up slightly.

'You wanted to know who set the reporter on you,' Seamus said, 'have a look in the envelope.'

Draco pulled the envelope across the desk and shook its contents out onto the table. Inside were 3 moving pictures that had been taken on a Wizarding camera. The first was of a young man walking through iron wrought gates with the words 'ZABINI HOUSE' written on them. The second picture was of a familiar woman letting the young man into the house. The third and final picture was of the woman handing the man a large sum of money.

'Pansy Zabini,' Seamus said triumphantly, 'I followed the reporter to her house and saw her pay him off. I have the full memory if you want to see it.'

'Of course I want to see it,' Draco snapped, no longer angry at Seamus but instead taking out his anger with Pansy on his Head of Security.

Seamus closed his eyes as he used his wand to pull the memory from his head. Draco pushed his pensieve across the desk to the former Gryffindor who placed the silver slither into the pensieve and pushed it back across the desk to Draco.

Taking a breath Draco placed his head inside the pensieve and was transported through shadows and silver slithers to Seamus's memory.

_He walked up the path next to his disillusioned Head of Security. Draco followed Seamus around the side of the house to the back door which he saw Pansy let the reporter in through. Seamus moved closer, standing right by the door and looking through the window panes._

'_Were you followed?' Pansy asked harshly, she looked much the same as she had when they were at school together. Tall, slim, pale skin, dark curly brown hair that was relatively short and slightly crazy blue eyes._

_The reporter rolled his eyes, 'we aren't in the war anymore Miss. Zabini,' he said rather condescendingly._

'_Did you even bother looking?' Pansy asked as she glared at the young reporter._

'_I did,' the reporter said, 'but nobody followed me.'_

'_You have no idea what Draco Malfoy is capable of,' Pansy informed the young man as she handed him a large pouch full of Galleons, 'you ought to be more careful or next time I need something done I won't hire you.'_

'_I apologise Miss. Zabini,' the reporter said as he shook Pansy's hand and made his way over to the door which caused Seamus to back up and the memory to end._

Draco frowned as he emerged from the pensieve, 'Pansy was behind this,' he mused, Seamus stayed where he was, he hadn't been officially dismissed yet.

Draco was trying to work out why Pansy had done this in the first place. He knew she had gotten jealous when they were at school together, but she was married now and had been for the past 3 years so this came out of the blue and made no sense at first. Then again even after they had left school Pansy had tended to get attached and act quite crazy around Draco…

'_Draco!'_

_The final battle had taken place a few days ago, Draco was still hiding out at home. He turned to find that Pansy had just floo-ed into the Manor. His Mother was upstairs sobbing in her bedroom, his Father was in Azkaban._

'_I don't really want company Pansy,' Draco said darkly._

'_But Draco,' Pansy said as she reached him and grabbed his arm, 'now that the war is over we can finally be together. We can finally be happy.'_

'_I don't want to be with you Pansy,' Draco said nastily, 'I never wanted to be with you, leave me alone.'_

_Pansy's eyes filled with tears, 'You don't mean that Draco,' she said as she stopped in her tracks, 'you're just shaken up from the war.'_

'_I do mean it Pansy,' Draco hissed at his former girlfriend, 'and I don't want to be with someone like you anyway! You loved the Dark Lord, I hated him! All I wanted was to do some good.'_

'_I know Draco,' Pansy said, placing her hand on his arm, 'I've forgiven you for helping those on the side of the light in the war.'_

'_I don't want or need your forgiveness Pansy,' Draco snapped, 'and I have enough to deal with right now without you being here and irritating me, get out!'_

_Bursting into tears Pansy hurried to the fireplace and left the Manor._

Draco sighed and placed his head in his hands, 'Why do you think she did it?' he asked Seamus.

'Jealousy likely,' Seamus replied.

Draco nodded, he agreed that this was probably the reason for Pansy setting the reporter on him. It was out of spite, how she had found out about him and Hermione in the first place however he had no idea.

'Right, well thanks Seamus,' Draco said, wondering if he sounded as tired as he felt, 'your work here is done.'

Seamus got to his feet and nodded, 'Goodnight Mr. Malfoy,' he said as he left the library.

Draco let his head fall into his hands once more, he knew Pansy could be reckless but he found it hard at first to believe she could be this spiteful. Then he remembered how she had acted towards him after Astoria's death.

'_Draco, I'm so sorry,' Pansy said as she approached Draco at the wake which was being held in one of the large dining rooms at Malfoy Manor._

_Draco merely nodded, he and Pansy had never been as close since he married Astoria but they kept on civil terms because Pansy was now in a relationship with Blaise who was one of Draco's best friends._

'_It must be very difficult,' Pansy added, 'if you ever need anything, any help with Scorpius, or any…relief of whatever kind.'_

_Draco frowned as he looked at the expression on Pansy's face. She got under his skin in every possible way._

'_I can't believe you would have the audacity and disrespect to say something like that to me hours after I buried my Wife,' Draco hissed angrily._

'_I was just showing my support,' Pansy said with a small smile and Draco actually wanted to curse her into oblivion._

'_Well you can take your support and get the hell out of my house,' Draco said in an angry undertone, 'you may be dating Blaise now Pansy but that doesn't mean that I have to put up with you. Get the hell out or I'll tell Blaise about the offer you just made me.'_

_Pansy turned her nose up at Draco and strutted from the room, thankfully only grabbing the attention of a few people in the immediate vicinity._

Draco sighed, Pansy's willingness to try and take advantage of his state of mind that day had been the final straw for him, but he continued to put up with Pansy because she was now married to Blaise and he didn't want to lose his relationship with his friend. She had scared him then and he had wondered what she might be capable of.

It was only then that a thought struck Draco that chilled him to the bone. Pansy could be dangerous, she let her obsession with him take over her life, and the pictures and the reporter had probably only been the first step in a larger, more dangerous plan that Pansy had already worked out. Draco gasped out loud as he realised he wasn't the target.

'Hermione!'

**TBC:)**

**A/N: The chapter title is from the song 'Time Bomb' by All Time Low.**


	8. I Think We Have an Emergency

**The War is Over**

**Chapter 8 -I Think We Have an Emergency  
**

Draco liked to think of himself as a fairly good parent all things considered. There were some things that he hated, one of them was leaving his son with the house elves who worked in the Manor. Draco had spent more time with house elves than humans as a child and it had made him bitter. He tried hard to make sure that Scorpius was looked after by someone he knew and trusted if Draco had to work or go out anywhere without him.

However there were exceptions to every rule. As it was Scorpius was asleep anyway and Draco wasn't sure that he would be able to find anyone to take Scorpius this late at night. By the time Seamus had left the library it was past midnight.

Draco had therefore been resigned to asking his head house elf to keep an eye on Scorpius as he apparated to Hermione's flat in London.

When he arrived outside the building his heart began to beat faster. Hermione lived in a block of 6 flats. There were 3 on the bottom floor and 3 above them on the next floor. The outside wall of Hermione's flat no longer existed and the street was filled with people but the Muggle emergency services hadn't arrived yet.

Draco had to get Hermione and Rose out of there and to St. Mungo's before the Muggles turned up. He was of course assuming they were alive, but he had too. He couldn't allow himself to think of any other scenarios.

Quickly Draco disillusioned himself and pushed through the crowd into the burning flat, he put up a shield charm to protect himself from the smoke and squinted through the haze. His heart began to pound out of his chest when he saw Hermione lying unconscious in the hallway with a pool of blood around her head. He was moving towards her to pick her up when he heard a cry from further inside the house.

'HELP!'

It was muffled but Draco recognised it immediately, 'Rose!'

The decision he had to make next was heart-breaking. He needed to decide between grabbing Hermione or running to Rose and he knew he had only a split-second to make that decision. He was a Father, and that helped because he knew that every parent would do anything for their child. If he grabbed Hermione and Rose didn't survive then she would never forgive him.

Draco rushed through the house, the fire hadn't reached Rose yet but the smoke was beginning to leak under the doorway into her bedroom. He heard her coughing as he approached.

'HELP!' She called out again.

Draco pushed the door open and walked into the smoke filled room.

'DRACO!' Rose called out with a mixture of fear and relief, his disillusionment charm had been disabled almost instantly by the smoke.

'Shh,' Draco said gently as he picked Rose up and extended his shield charm so that it covered her, 'you'll be okay Rose,' he said as he ran as fast as he could through the smoke to the living room which really was up in flames. Rose was crying but Draco could do no more, he needed to get her to safety so he could help Hermione.

Urgently Draco grabbed some floo powder and threw it into the fireplace, as the flames roared green he said as clearly as he could through the smoke which was now beginning to break through his shield charm, 'Auror department, emergency office.'

Instantly a face appeared in the fire, 'what is your emergency?' it asked.

'A fire, two injured, one child, one woman,' Draco coughed.

'ETA 2 minutes,' the man's head in the fire said as it vanished.

'Draco,' Rose said, her voice sounding harsh, 'where's Mummy?'

Rose was afraid and crying, she wanted her Mother and Draco couldn't provide her with that, 'she'll be okay Rose,' he said simply but he knew the little girl could tell that he was afraid.

The flames got closer to the doorway of the living room and Draco knew he had to get out before the flames trapped them in here. Strengthening his shield charm he rushed through them, feeling the heat but without being burned. He didn't let go of Rose as he tried to put the flames out with his wand. He managed to subdue them slightly but couldn't actually extinguish them.

The cracking sound that meant the Aurors had arrived could barely be heard over the crackling of the flames all around him but Draco had never been more relieved to see them.

'Malfoy!' Harry shouted in surprise when he saw him holding Rose.

'Potter,' Draco said in relief, 'take Rose please, get her to St. Mungo's.'

'OLIVER!' Harry shouted urgently, taking Rose from Draco and passing her to his partner, 'get Rose to St. Mungo's.'

Oliver nodded and in seconds he had disapparated.

Draco was now free to rush to Hermione as the Aurors attempted to put the fire out, he dropped down to his knees next to her and uttered the most basic charms to check her injuries.

'Smoke inhalation…head injury, swelling of the brain,' Draco muttered, he was trying to stay calm, there weren't any field trauma healers here, he had to act now or Hermione wouldn't make it to St. Mungo's.

Draco took a breath and got to work with the basics that would save Hermione's life. He made sure the shield charm was extended around them both and with his wand did a very intricate procedure. He created a tiny incision in Hermione's head followed by a tiny hole in her skull so that the swelling of her brain wouldn't cause any brain damage. He took another breath and performed a simple charm that extracted the smoke from her lungs, he checked her stats again. She was stable enough for him to get her to St. Mungo's, but she was by no means out of the woods.

'Malfoy!' Harry called from where he was fighting the fire, 'is she okay?'

'No!' Draco shouted as he picked Hermione up, 'she's dying and if I don't get her to St. Mungo's right now she's going to have permanent brain damage!'

'GO THEN!' Harry practically screamed. Draco wasn't the only person in this room who cared about Hermione. With a brisk nod he spun on his heel and apparated with Hermione to the emergency apparition point at St. Mungo's. These days he was used to being on the other side of the line which would have thrown him if it weren't for the fact that his girlfriend was dying.

Draco placed her on the gurney and rushed alongside his fellow Healer and her group of Medi-witches.

'Her brain is swelling, she has minor burns and she suffered smoke inhalation,' Draco said quickly.

'Did you have to work in the field Draco?' his fellow Healer Susan asked.

Draco nodded, his heart still pounding in his chest, 'I had to expel some of the smoke and create a hole in her skull to let her brain have room to swell.'

'Good work,' Susan said as they reached the doors to the OR. Draco tried to go in with her and she stopped him.

'Draco, you know the rules,' Susan said briskly.

'I DON'T CARE ABOUT THE RULES!' Draco shouted angrily.

Susan remained calm, 'you _can't _operate on people you care about Draco.'

Draco's state had caused the Healer in charge of the emergency room for that night to step forward, 'Healer Malfoy, step away and let Healer Bones do her job.'

'No!' Draco shouted angrily, 'I can operate on her! Let me in!'

'HEALER MALFOY!' his superior shouted, 'you are in no state of mind to operate on anyone right now!'

'You know the rules Draco,' Susan repeated.

'I DON'T CARE ABOUT THE RULES! THE WOMAN I LOVE IS DYING!' Draco practically screamed.

At that point Hermione's body began to convulse and Susan shouted anxiously, 'She's crashing, we need to operate on her _now_!'

'NO!' Draco yelled as he lunged forward. His superior and two other Healers rushed in to hold him back as Susan wheeled Hermione into the operating room.

The white doors gently closed, and locked behind Susan.

Draco didn't need to be held back after that, he fell to his knees on the floor outside of the Operating Room and let his head fall heavily into his hands. All around him people were murmuring and whispering but all Draco could think about was the way that Hermione had been convulsing and shaking and dying.

'Draco,' a familiar voice said as Draco was pulled to his feet.

'Emily,' he said weakly to the Medi-Witch who had been his aide for the past 4 years.

'Come on,' she said gently as she let Draco away from the OR to a waiting room. Draco allowed himself to be taken there quietly, he was completely stunned at the moment. He felt like the world had stopped turning.

'Susan is good Draco,' Emily Henderson said as Draco paced the waiting room, 'she'll save her.'

'She has too Emily,' Draco said desperately, 'I can't lose her…I can't lose somebody else that I…' he trailed off and his breath caught in his throat, 'care about.'

Draco hadn't even realised that he was crying until he lifted his hand to rub his face and felt the wetness there. He wiped the tears away harshly and continued to pace the small, empty room.

Emily didn't say anything, but she stayed in the room with him and Draco appreciated the company. He got so used to the silence that he jumped when the doors to the room burst open and Harry barged in. He was covered in soot but he didn't seem to care, he looked as terrified as Draco supposed he must look.

'Where is she?' Harry asked, his voice was rough. A mixture of emotion and from the smoke he had inhaled in the fire.

Draco opened his mouth but found that he couldn't speak so he looked hopelessly at Emily.

'She's being operated on,' Emily said in that soft, comforting voice of hers.

'How bad is it?' Harry asked Draco, his voice breaking. He got no answer and grew angry, 'Malfoy! How bad is it?' he asked angrily, and loudly.

'Potter would you stop shouting at me?' Draco yelled angrily, 'I HAVE NO IDEA HOW BAD IT IS! I'VE BEEN STUCK IN HERE FOR THE LAST HALF AN HOUR AND ALL I KNOW IS THE LAST TIME I SAW HER SHE WAS CRASHING!'

'What do you mean CRASHING?' Harry shouted, 'HOW COULD YOU LET HER DIE MALFOY?'

'I DID EVERYTHING I COULD TO TRY AND SAVE HER!' Draco shouted as he advanced on Harry.

'Did you?' Harry asked, his horrible temper boiling to the surface, 'or did you plan this whole thing?'

'How _dare _you?' Draco hissed, stepping closer to Harry and looking down on him. He had a good foot on the Gryffindor, 'all I have done is care about her in the past month!'

'Yet she's here because of you!' Harry spat, 'I DETERMINED THE CAUSE OF THAT FIRE, IT WASN'T AN ACCIDENT!'

'YOU THINK I DON'T KNOW THAT?' Draco screamed, 'I _KNOW _THAT FIRE HAPPENED BECAUSE I DIDN'T SEE IN TIME WHAT PANSY WAS AND I HAVE TO LIVE WITH THAT FOR THE REST OF MY LIFE!'

'ALL YOU CARE ABOUT IS YOUR REPUTATION AND YOUR GUILTY CONSCIENCE!' Harry yelled as he took a step closer to Draco, they couldn't get any closer to each other if they tried.

Draco turned around and took a step back from Harry.

'You're a coward,' Harry said coldly, 'just like you always were.'

Draco froze and spun around, punching Harry hard in the face.

Harry staggered backwards and swore loudly, when he looked up blood was pouring from his nose, 'you fucking bastard!' he said as he too swung at Draco. His fist collided violently with Draco's nose and an almighty crack was followed by a yell of pain.

Emily was watching everything unfold in horror.

'Fuck you Potter,' Draco hissed, as his blood streamed from his broken nose, he moved forward to hit the former Gryffindor again but a few healers burst into the room and pulled the fighting pair apart.

Draco was dragged into a small room and pushed into a seat by Emily who glared at him, 'that was reckless!' she said as she fixed his nose a little more violently than she needed too.

'He deserved it,' Draco grumbled as Emily mended the bone which made him yell in pain once more.

'I know he did,' Emily said as she dabbed at the blood around Draco's nose which was bruised and tender, 'but you shouldn't have punched him.'

Draco groaned as Emily finished wiping the blood away and stuck a support bridge on his nose firmly, 'if you really love the woman in that operating room you better act like a responsible man or Robertson won't let you see her when she gets out of the OR.'

'I never said I loved her,' Draco said with a slight frown.

Emily raised an eyebrow at the man who was essentially her boss, 'Right, so when you practically screamed 'that's the woman I love' you weren't saying you loved her,' she said sarcastically.

Draco was stunned mentally by this and frozen physically. He had been in such a state when Hermione was first brought into St. Mungo's he barely knew what he was doing or saying, but when he thought back he realised that he had in fact said he was in love with Hermione.

Was he? Draco wondered to himself, he _did _feel the way he had about Astoria. He had enjoyed every moment of the last month with Hermione, and he couldn't imagine his life ever being the same if she died tonight in that OR. With a jolt that felt like it ripped through his body Draco realised that in the space of a month he had begun to fall in love with Hermione.

'Come on,' Emily said as she pulled Draco to his feet, 'get back in the waiting room and I'll fetch an update for you.'

Draco nodded and allowed Emily to drag him back into the waiting room. Truth be told he was slightly dazed at what he had just realised.

When he was pushed into a seat in the waiting room with its white walls, doors and seats he realised he was sitting next to Harry whose nose was also bandaged and bruised.

Draco and Harry glanced at each other then looked away. The room was filled by an awkward silence.

Harry spoke first, 'I'm sorry about that.'

'Yeah, so am I,' Draco said tensely.

'I shouldn't have pushed you,' Harry said, keeping his eyes on the floor.

'I shouldn't have let my temper get away from me,' Draco said, looking anywhere but at Harry.

'I had my doubts,' Harry said, risking a sideways glance at the former Slytherin, 'but I can see you really care about Hermione.'

'And I forget what you went through with her,' Draco admitted, also glancing sideways at the Gryffindor.

Harry held out his hand, 'truce?'

Draco nodded and took Harry's outstretched hand and shook it. Both men then looked back down to the floor, both thinking the same thing. _Was Hermione going to pull through this?_

* * *

'Healer Robertson!'

The Healer in charge of the emergency room that Wednesday night turned around when he heard his name. He was in his mid-30's with dark hair and glasses, he was tall, slim and 'weedy' but very strict.

'Ah Henderson, how is he?' Robertson asked in an undertone. Despite his anger earlier towards Draco he was worried.

'He's coping,' Emily replied simply.

Robertson sighed, 'Good,' he said.

'He needs an update sir,' Emily said, she was fishing and praying that it would work.

Robertson nodded, 'I understand,' he said and if anyone understood it was him. Robertson had been in charge of the emergency room on the night of the dragon attack in 2002. His wife had been involved but he couldn't operate on her and had no choice but to continue running the emergency room.

Emily followed Robertson to the doors of the OR. He used his wand to swipe his signature across the doors which immediately unlocked.

'Stay here Henderson,' Robertson ordered as he disappeared into the room. Emily got a quick look in, Hermione was lying on the table with Medi-Witches rushing around her.

Robertson wasn't in the room for long, less than 5 minutes probably but when he emerged he looked less stressed.

'Her burns have been healed, the smoke has been completely expelled from her lungs and Healer Bones is about to close the wound in her head. Her brain has stopped swelling and Healer Bones informed me that once she got a good look she realised the injury looked far worse than it was. The trauma to her body is what caused Miss. Granger to crash but she had since stabilised,' Robertson said, relaying all of this calmly to Emily.

'Thank you sir,' Emily said as she rushed as fast as she could to the waiting room to inform Draco and Harry of this news.

'She's going to be okay.'

Draco had jumped when Emily first burst through the doors but had never been so relieved in his life at her words.

'Are you sure?' Draco asked as he got to his feet.

Emily nodded, smiling at her boss, 'I spoke to Robertson who spoke to Susan. The smoke was completely expelled from her lungs, her burns were healed and the swelling in her brain has stopped. Susan was just closing up when I spoke to Robertson, she said the injury looked worse on the outside than it really was.'

'Thank Merlin,' Draco said, breathing a huge sigh of relief.

Harry got to his feet and did something rather strange. He hugged Draco who was alarmed by this action but patted him on the back awkwardly while Emily giggled in the background at how awkward Draco seemed at being hugged.

'When will we be allowed to see her?' Harry asked Emily as he let go of Draco and hugged her.

'I'm not sure,' Emily replied, 'she will probably need to spend a couple of hours in intensive care so tomorrow I imagine.'

Draco nodded, relieved that Hermione would be okay, 'I'm going to go and check on Rose,' he said as he yawned, 'she should be okay, she only suffered minor smoke inhalation.'

'She's in Paediatrics,' Emily said.

'I'm coming with you,' Harry said to Draco as he made his way to the staircase.

Draco didn't object to this but they didn't talk as they made their way up the stairs to the Paediatrics ward which had bright colourful walls with paintings of toys and Quidditch players on them. Harry followed Draco along the corridor as he glanced through the window panes on the doors of the rooms. Eventually they reached Rose's room and Draco entered first.

'Draco!' Rose exclaimed when she saw him, Oliver was sitting by her bed at the moment. She was sitting up in bed holding a cuddly toy tightly to her chest looking rather pale.

'Hey Rose,' Draco said as he approached the little girl who hugged him the moment he was within reaching distance.

'Uncle Harry!'

'Hey Rosie,' Harry said with a weak smile as he hugged his Goddaughter.

'Where's Mummy Uncle Harry?' Rose asked sadly.

'She's in hospital just like you are Rose,' Harry said softly, 'she's sleeping at the moment because she hurt her head.'

'Just like you did when you first met me,' Draco said to the little girl with a small smile.

'Is Mummy going to be okay?' Rose asked, she looked like she might burst into tears.

'She'll be fine,' Draco assured Rose, 'I can take you to see her tomorrow if you'd like.'

'I'd like that,' Rose said nodding eagerly.

'Alright then we'll do that,' Draco said, 'but for now it's time to go to sleep.'

'Okay Draco,' Rose said with a yawn as she lay down in the hospital bed, 'can you tell me a happy story please?'

Draco wasn't so good at making up stories on the spot, he usually read them from books to Scorpius but Rose had gone through a lot tonight and he felt responsible for that so he owed it to her to at least try.

He knew that Harry was standing nearby and Oliver was still sitting by Rose's bed but Draco didn't care as he sat down on the edge of Rose's bed.

'Okay,' Draco said with a smile, 'I'll tell you a story my Mother told me when I was little.'

Rose nodded sleepily and Draco began his story.

'There was once a young wizard who lived in a castle in the sky. He liked it there, it was his home and he was allowed to go wherever he wanted inside the castle and he never had any reason to leave,' Draco paused for a breath, 'but one day the young wizard heard his friends talking about the other world down below and he was curious, he wanted to see for himself what was underneath the clouds. His parents had only ever given him one rule, he could explore the castle as much as he wanted but he was never to venture into the world underneath the clouds.'

'Did he go anyway?' Rose asked sleepily as she drew her toy nearer to her. It was the unicorn she had gone to sleep cuddling that night.

'He did,' Draco said with a small smile, he loved his story because it reminded him of the days when his Mother still had time for him, 'the young wizard stole his Fathers broomstick and flew down to the world below the clouds. He saw many things like bright green grass and fields of all different coloured flowers, but the young wizard did not know this new world and he lost his way. He then met a young girl and asked her to help him back to his castle in the sky, she was a witch and she told the young wizard that there was no way back to the castle.'

'So he was stuck?' Rose gasped.

'He was stuck,' Draco said, realising the morals of the story more so now than he ever had, 'but the young witch showed him how the new world worked and he loved it, he didn't want to go back to his castle in the sky, he wanted to stay in this new world. The young wizard fell in love with the young witch and they spent the rest of their lives gathering flowers from beautiful colourful fields and working underneath the clear blue sky. The young wizard grew older and wiser, he married the witch and had many children and every day when he was out in the field working he would look up at the sky and talk to his parents.'

'Could they hear him?' Rose asked sleepily.

'They could hear him,' Draco said with a smile, 'and every day he told them stories about his children and his wife.'

'That was a nice story Draco,' Rose said as her eyes slid shut and she drifted quickly off to sleep.

Draco smiled slightly and kissed Rose on the forehead and pulled the covers around her the way she liked them. When he turned around he saw Harry and Oliver gaping at him.

'What?' Draco asked with a slight frown, 'I have a son, I know how to be a parent.'

'I just never expected you to be so…' Harry trailed off.

'So unlike my Father?' Draco asked, almost amused at Harry's reaction, 'I said this to Hermione on our first date, I try to be as unlike my Father as possible.'

'I owe you an apology for not thinking you were good enough for Hermione,' Oliver said as he got to his feet.

'Apology accepted,' Draco said as he took the seat Oliver had just vacated, 'did the Healers tell you much?'

Oliver nodded, 'she's only really being kept in overnight as a precaution,' he said, 'she suffered minor smoke inhalation but she's fine.'

'I suspected as much,' Draco said, looking at Rose now that she was asleep. She looked so peaceful.

'I'm going to head,' Oliver said, more to Harry than Draco, 'I've left Katie with the kids.'

Harry nodded and yawned, 'I should probably head too, but I think I should stay with Rose.'

Oliver and Harry said a quick goodbye and Oliver then left the hospital room. Draco knew he had to either be back at the Manor before Scorpius woke up or he would have to get someone to be there for him waking up but he didn't want to leave Rose.

'You can go if you need to get back to your son,' Harry said, as if he was reading Draco's mind, 'I understand it must be hard raising him alone.'

'It isn't easy,' Draco admitted, he felt torn, Rose was practically family already and he didn't want to leave her in her vulnerable state.

A knock on the door drew him out of his thoughts. A Medi-Witch smiled as she opened the door, 'Healer Malfoy, you have a floo call in the staff room.'

'I better take this,' Draco said to Harry as he quietly left the room. He walked down the corridor to the large staff room at the far end. When he walked in he was glad that the room was empty. He dropped down to his hunches in front of the fire surprised by the face he saw there, 'Mother!'

'Draco,' Narcissa said with a small smile, 'I'm just letting you know that I'm at the Manor.'

'You're at the Manor? Why?' Draco asked, completely confused.

'Theodore called me here,' Narcissa explained, 'Scorpius woke up from a nightmare to find that the house elves were all that was in the house. They called Theodore who called me.'

'Thank you Mother,' Draco said, this hopefully meant he could stay longer with Rose, 'there was an emergency.'

'Yes, I hear that it involves your new girlfriend,' Narcissa said, there was some disapproval in her voice but Draco didn't care, 'it did,' he said, 'and it was one of my supposed friends who attacked her so you can see why I hold some responsibility.'

Narcissa nodded, 'You do know my dear that you are covered in blood, do you not?' she asked.

Draco looked down, sure enough he was covered in Hermione's blood, this thought made his stomach churn.

'I hadn't noticed,' Draco said honestly, 'Mother, if you are at the Manor would you mind staying the night? Hermione's daughter is spending the night in hospital and I don't want to leave her.'

Narcissa shook her head, 'I don't mind staying overnight at the Manor,' she said, 'but I do want to have a word with you about this Hermione Granger tomorrow.'

'Okay,' Draco said, brushing his Mother off for the moment, 'thanks Mother,' he said as he ended the floo call.

Draco sighed, he was relieved that he could spend the night in the hospital but he also had a conversation coming up with his Mother that he wasn't looking forward too. He unlocked his locker and changed quickly into the spare clothes he kept in there then made his way to the bathroom and washed his hands thoroughly. When he felt clean and back to normal Draco made his way back to Rose's room where Harry was leaning against the wall.

Draco sat back down in the chair by her bed and Harry smiled slightly at the scene.

'Are you staying?' he asked.

Draco nodded, 'My Mother is at the Manor watching my son.'

'In that case I'm going to head home, Ginny will wait up worrying until I get back,' Harry said as he walked forward and kissed Rose on the cheek, 'you're good for her Malfoy,' Harry admitted with a smile, 'Rose and Hermione.'

'Thanks Potter,' Draco said as Harry left the hospital room.

Draco looked back to Rose, he realised how tired he was as he rested his head on the edge of her bed and started to drift into an uneasy, uncomfortable sleep. He knew that she would have to have a psyche consult in the morning because of the incident, but he would deal with that when dawn broke, right now he needed to grab a few hours' sleep to be able to function properly.

_**TBC :)  
**_

_**A/N - I try to get the medical information as accurate as possible but I get what I know (or don't know!) from documentaries and medical dramas so hopefully it's not too unbelievable!**_

_**Thanks for reading! :)**_


	9. Revenge is a Dish Best Served Cold

**The War is Over**

**Chapter 9 - Revenge is a Dish Best Served Cold**

The morning sun streaming through the window woke Draco up early on Thursday morning. He groaned in pain slightly as he stretched, his entire body felt stiff from the angle he had fallen asleep at. Draco smiled as he looked down at his right hand, Rose was clasping it tightly in her sleep. He didn't want to wake her up so he kept his hand where it was.

Draco yawned, still tired from the chaotic night before. He wanted to visit Hermione, he wanted to see for himself that she was okay, but he couldn't leave Rose yet, she needed him more than Hermione did, and judging from the kind of surgery she had gone through last night she wouldn't be awake for a good few hours yet anyway.

Draco was lost in his thoughts as he stared out of the window. The hospital windows were magical like most wizarding buildings. They looked out over green hills and pure blue lakes when in reality all that was on the other side of the building was the hustle and bustle of London. He and his Mother didn't have a bad relationship, but they didn't talk much either. Narcissa had her own life in Monaco and Draco had his back here in England, usually she didn't interfere but Draco knew later today he would have to face her and all of her prejudices. He had known since he and Hermione began dating that his Mother wouldn't approve, he had just hoped to have longer before he had to discuss it with her.

'Draco,' Rose's sleepy voice said as she opened her eyes and yawned.

'Good morning,' Draco said, dragging himself away from thoughts of his Mother, 'did you sleep okay last night?'

Rose nodded and sat up in the hospital bed, 'thank you for the story Draco.'

'I'll always read you a story when you're scared Rose,' Draco said genuinely as Rose finally let go of his hand and he got to his feet to stretch.

'Draco, my hair is messy,' Rose said sadly, 'my Mummy brushes it for me every morning.'

'Well I don't have a brush,' Draco said, 'but I can fix it.'

He sat down on the edge of the bed and fixed Rose's hair the easy way, with a de-tangling charm and a straightening charm.

'Thank you Draco,' Rose said politely.

'Are you hungry?' Draco asked Rose as he heard the breakfast cart trundling down the corridor.

Rose nodded, 'do they have pancakes here Draco? Mummy gives me pancakes when I've been good.'

'Well since you were very good last night I'll make sure you get pancakes,' Draco said with a smile as he began to scoop Roses hair up to put it into a ponytail so it didn't get messy again.

Rose's face lit up and a moment later there was a knock at the door.

'Come in,' Draco called, he was still sitting on Rose's bed fixing her hair for her.

A Medi-Witch with a cart walked in and smiled at the sight, Draco recognised her, 'Oh good morning Rebecca,' he said.

'Good morning Healer Draco,' the young witch said with a smile, 'I didn't realise you had a daughter as well as Scorpius.'

'Draco isn't my Daddy,' Rose said matter of factly, 'he's just my Mummy's boyfriend.'

'What she said,' Draco said with a chuckle as he finished Rose's hair.

'Oh,' Rebecca said with a smile, 'well can I get you two anything for breakfast?'

Draco replied before Rose could, 'that would be lovely. I think Rose will have two pancakes with banana, yoghurt and honey?'

Rose shook her head with a big smile, 'No Draco, its chocolate not honey.'

'Chocolate at this time in the morning,' Draco said, shaking his head, 'we'll have to keep this a secret from your Mum.'

Rose chuckled and pressed her finger to her lips.

The Medi-Witch, Rebecca, chuckled and asked, 'What about you Draco?'

'I'll just have some porridge please Rebecca,' Draco said politely.

Rose then watched in amazement as Rebecca sent the order downstairs with her wand and moments later their breakfast appeared on the tray.

'Wow,' Rose said as Rebecca placed Rose's pancakes on a tray in front of her and put Draco's breakfast on the bedside table.

'Have you never seen that before?' Draco asked Rose as Rebecca left the room. He knew from past experience that if Rose was anything like Scorpius that she loved pancakes but couldn't cup them up so he absentmindedly cut her pancakes into manageable sized chunks for her.

Rose shook her head, 'Mummy doesn't do that. Where did it come from?'

'It came from the kitchen,' Draco informed Rose, 'there are lots of house elves working down there. They made your breakfast and sent it up here to you.'

'Mummy says it's bad to make house elves do that,' Rose said, but this didn't stop her from eating her pancakes.

Draco smiled fondly at this remembering Hermione and her S.P.E.W while they were at school together, 'Well some people like your Mum don't think it's very nice to get house elves to do our work for us. Some people want them to be free and get paid for the work they do.'

'Why don't they get paid?' Rose asked curiously as she munched her pancakes.

'House elves belong to families,' Draco said to Rose, 'they are like pets. Some wizards aren't very nice to their house elves but most love them like they are part of the family. House elves like cleaning and cooking, they don't want to get paid or be free.'

'Oh,' Rose said thoughtfully, 'okay.'

'Eat up your breakfast,' Draco said, treating Rose as he would Scorpius, 'a Healer is going to come in and talk to you later then we'll go visit your Mum.'

Rose ate quietly and Draco enjoyed the comfortable silence as he ate what he could of his porridge. His stomach was still churning from the night before, he didn't quite have his appetite back yet.

'Finished Draco!' Rose said as she handed the plate to Draco who put it with his on the bedside table, 'you ate that whole plate? You must have been hungry,' Draco said as he glanced at the time. The Healer in charge of this ward would be doing their rounds about now, it wouldn't be long until Rose got her psyche evaluation, he just hoped that he would have the authority to sign off on the forms, he knew Hermione was in no state to do so.

Draco leant back in his chair and yawned as he wondered who would do Rose's psyche evaluation. Usually it was the leading Paediatrics Healer but that was supposed to be him today. He was fairly certain he wouldn't get fired for missing his shift all things considered, especially since Robertson had seen him the night before and he was the one who made up the shift timetable. He hated missing shifts because it meant that somebody else would have had to be called in on their day off, but there were times when it couldn't be helped.

A knock on the door distracted Draco and he was even more surprised when the door was pushed open and a woman walked in. She was wearing a skirt, a purple blouse and a white lab coat with the symbol of St. Mungo's on it. The woman had blonde hair which was pulled back into a bun, blue eyes and a pretty face.

'Daphne!'

The woman, Daphne, smiled as she walked into the room, 'I'm covering your shift this morning Draco since you decided to bunk off.'

'I didn't decide to bunk off,' Draco said quietly, 'my girlfriend nearly died and I spent the whole night with her daughter.'

'I know,' Daphne said as she grabbed the piece of parchment at the bottom of the bed and read through it as she said, 'and I don't mind,' she added.

'Aren't you on maternity leave?' Draco asked, aware Rose was probably listening in to every word they were saying.

'I am, but they needed someone to cover your shift at the last minute and I was the only one available,' Daphne said as she ticked off some boxes on the piece of parchment, 'I don't even do Paediatrics normally.'

'Well you've just had a baby, that qualifies you,' Draco teased with a smile. He turned to Rose who was looking at them inquisitively, 'Rose, this is Healer Davies, but I think she will let you call her Daphne.'

'I will,' Daphne said as she sat down next to Rose's bed with a box.

'Daphne is Scorpius's Aunt,' Draco told Rose from where he stood a little further back to let Daphne do her work. He felt guilty that she had been called in today in the first place, she had a 1 month old baby and she normally worked in the emergency room so he appreciated the fact she was covering his Paediatrics round.

'Okay Rose I know you've done this before but we're going to do some little tests,' Daphne said as she handed Rose a small box with little figures in it, 'I want you to start with showing me your family.'

Rose nodded eagerly, seeing it as a game. She pulled a little girl from the box with brown hair and said, 'that's me.'

'Okay,' Daphne said with a small smile, everyone found Rose cute.

'And this is my Mummy,' Rose said as she pulled out a female figure with brown hair.

Rose dug around the box a little more and pulled out a figure of a light-haired man, 'this is Draco.'

Daphne raised an eyebrow at Draco who seemed surprised by the fact Rose considered him family.

'And this one is Scorpius!' Rose said finally as she pulled the figure of a little boy from the box.

'Okay very good Rose,' Daphne said as she noted something down on her bit of parchment, 'now I want you to finish off some sentences for me about everyone in your family okay?'

Rose nodded eagerly once more.

'We'll start with your Mum,' Daphne said kindly, 'I like it when my Mum…'

'Makes pancakes!'

Daphne chuckled, 'Okay. I don't like it when my Mum…'

Rose thought about this for a moment and finally said, 'fights with Uncle Harry about Draco.'

Draco bit his lip at this, so Hermione and Harry argued about him? Well it didn't entirely surprise him considering the fact that Harry had broken his nose the night before.

'Alright, I like it when Draco…'

Rose answered quickly, 'fixes my hair! He does it better than Mummy!'

Draco shook his head slightly, he was going to get teased so much by Daphne about this, she shot him an amused smile and said to Rose, 'I don't like it when Draco…'

Again Rose had to think harder about this one but then said, 'makes me eat my vegetables,' she wrinkled her nose.

Draco shook his head in amusement, he and Hermione had fun at dinner time trying to get Rose to eat anything green whereas Scorpius loved vegetables.

'Okay, we're nearly done,' Daphne said as she noted something down, 'I like it when Scorpius…'

'Plays Quidditch with me!'

'I don't like it when Scorpius…'

'Doesn't let me play with his potions kit,' Rose said with a pout.

'That was your own fault little Miss Granger,' Draco said as he walked closer to the girl, 'you melted his cauldron.'

'It was an accident,' Rose said innocently, Draco chuckled, 'I know it was.'

Daphne smiled and said, 'Now Rose, can you tell me everything you remember about last night?'

Rose looked at Draco with fear in her eyes so he sat down on the edge of her bed and let her cuddle up to him as she told Daphne what happened, 'I was in my bed but then a big bang woke me up and my bedroom got dark and it was scary and I was shouting really loudly,' Rose was crying already from recounting the memory, 'and then Draco came in and he helped me and my Mummy was on the floor and her eyes were shut and I was scared.'

'Okay,' Daphne said gently, 'that's all I needed to know.'

'It's okay Rose,' Draco said as he stroked Rose's hair and soothed her, 'you're okay now.'

Daphne watched this interaction and Rose calmed down very quickly.

'Can I have a word outside Draco?' Daphne asked.

Draco nodded, 'I'll be back very soon Rose,' he said as he left the room with Daphne who pulled the door closed and asked, 'what happened to her?'

'It looks like it was a gas explosion,' Draco said, he didn't like to recount the story either, 'but I'm pretty sure it was orchestrated. Either way the wall exploded and pushed Hermione back into something sharp, she has a head injury. I tried to hide her view but Rose saw her Mother bleeding out before I could get her to hospital.'

'Is Hermione okay?' Daphne asked, placing her hand gently on Draco's arm.

'She's in recovery I think, I've not had a chance to see her yet,' Draco admitted.

'I'm sorry Draco, I know this is the last thing you need,' Daphne said sadly. She knew as well as Draco how hard this must be for him, she had lost her sister when he had lost his Wife.

'I'll be fine,' Draco lied with a smile, 'it was nice to see you again Daphne.' They both worked in the hospital so they saw each other occasionally but they worked in completely different wards so their paths didn't cross very often. They had never been particularly close during their school years but had grown closer when Draco had married Daphne's sister. Astoria's death had devastated them both and their friendship had pretty much died with her.

'You too Draco,' Daphne said as she smiled once more and turned to walk away. She stopped after a few steps and turned around, 'and what the hell happened to your nose?'

Draco rolled his eyes, 'It's a long story, but it involves Potter.'

'Harry Potter?' Daphne asked with a raised eyebrow.

Draco nodded and said, 'He got protective over Hermione and we ended up fighting.'

Daphne chuckled, 'Some things never change,' she said as she walked away down the corridor, shaking her head in amusement as she went.

Draco returned to Rose's room and a few minutes later a Medi-Witch came in to discharge her from the hospital.

* * *

When Hermione woke up the first thing she noticed was that her head hurt a lot. She tried to open her eyes but they felt heavy, her entire world felt foggy and it took her a while to try and come to terms with where she was and what had happened. The last thing she remembered was getting ready to go to bed, but then the memory of the explosion came back to her and her eyes flew open.

'Hermione!'

As the world around her came into focus Hermione saw Harry sitting in a chair by her bed.

'Harry,' she said, her voice hoarse.

'Have some water,' Harry said, helping her sit up in bed and handing her a glass of water.

Hermione sipped it gratefully.

'How do you feel?' Harry asked, he looked more anxious than Hermione had seen him in a long time.

'Like I've been hit over the head a thousand times,' Hermione said, sounding much more like herself.

Harry chuckled and said, 'well you haven't been, but you did have brain surgery last night,' Hermione's eyes widened, 'don't worry, it was keyhole surgery, you'll have a tiny scar but its hidden underneath your hair.'

'Explains why my head hurts so much,' Hermione said with a groan.

'I think the Medi-Witch will gave you more pain potion for it when she comes in later,' Harry said, glad that Hermione seemed well and herself.

'Is Rose okay?' Hermione asked, panic flashing through her eyes as she remembered the explosion and the fire that may have followed it.

'She's fine,' Harry assured his best friend, 'she suffered minor smoke inhalation and the healers kept her in overnight just in case. Draco stayed with her in Paediatrics all night.'

'He did?' Hermione asked with a smile.

Harry nodded, 'Look Hermione I'm glad you're okay but I'm sort of here on business.'

'What do you mean?' Hermione asked with a frown.

'The explosion last night looked at first to be a gas explosion,' Harry explained, 'but with a little more digging it seems that it was more than that. There was a hole in the gas pipe, but it had been created by magic, not wear and tear.'

'Someone did it on purpose?' Hermione asked in disbelief.

'It looks like it,' Harry said, not revealing what Draco had said the night before about how it was someone he knew, 'we have a list of suspects but you know the rules, I can't tell you anything more until I've arrested someone.'

'I understand,' Hermione said, she grabbed Harry's hand, 'what's the flat like?'

'Salvageable mostly,' Harry replied honestly, 'the hallway was destroyed as was the main bathroom, and the front half of the living room but the rest of the place is okay.'

'The front of the living room?' Hermione asked, her face falling slightly, 'that means all of my books will be gone.'

'You're alive Hermione,' Harry said as he squeezed her hand, 'you can replace your books.'

'That's true,' Hermione said with a smile.

'Hermione, as a friend I feel like I need to tell you this,' Harry said with a heavy sigh, 'first the photographs and now this…it seems connected to Malfoy in some way.'

'Harry don't,' Hermione said quietly.

'I'm just saying Hermione, maybe it isn't his fault but it _is _connected to him,' Harry said quietly, 'is he worth all of this danger?'

'Harry I really like him,' Hermione said, her voice slightly weak still, 'and that doesn't happen very often. Just catch whoever did this, and stop blaming Draco please. If it's true that someone he knows is behind this then I'm sure he feels incredibly guilty right now.'

'Well so he should,' Harry muttered.

'Why should he?' Hermione asked as hotly as she could, 'if someone he knew did this and he had nothing to do with it, which I find highly likely then what could he do to stop it?'

Harry sighed, 'Fine Hermione, you've proven your point,' he said as he got to his feet, 'I'm just asking you to be careful. I was worried sick last night.'

'I'm sorry Harry,' Hermione said as Harry kissed her on the cheek, 'I'll try and be more careful.'

'Thank you,' Harry said as he made his way to the door, 'you'll need somewhere to stay now, won't you?'

Hermione nodded thoughtfully, 'if the house is as destroyed as you say then yes, I will.'

'Well you know there is always room for you and Rose at Grimmauld Place,' Harry said with a smile as he reached out for the door handle, 'I'll keep you updated on the investigation.'

'Thank you Harry,' Hermione said as Harry was about to leave the room, 'wait Harry,' she said causing him to turn around, 'yeah?'

'Were you hurt last night getting us out?' Hermione asked with a slight frown.

'No,' Harry replied simply, 'why?'

'Well, your nose…' Hermione trailed off.

Harry realised what she meant and snorted, 'That was the work of your boyfriend.'

'Draco did that?' Hermione asked in shock.

'Yes, that's the _second _time Malfoy's broken my nose, but I think I deserved it this time,' Harry said, vaguely amused.

'What did you say to him?' Hermione asked, she knew Draco wouldn't punch Harry for no good reason.

'I sort of blamed him for the explosion…to his face,' Harry admitted sheepishly.

Hermione rolled her eyes, 'Oh Harry…'

* * *

After half an hour of signing forms Draco had permission to take Rose out of the hospital and she was finally discharged.

Rose was excited about getting to see Hermione and Draco felt rather strange about it. He was carrying Rose down the stairs and his stomach was churning with nerves and excitement, a combination he didn't feel very often.

'Draco,' Rose said thoughtfully as they reached the Recovery Ward and Draco placed Rose down on the floor.

Rose grabbed Draco's hand, 'should I have made Mummy a present?'

'I think seeing you will be her present,' Draco said to the girl as they walked hand in hand along the corridor until they reached a room with Hermione's name on the door.

Draco opened the door and Rose ran in as fast as she could, 'Mummy!'

'Hello Rosie,' Hermione said happily as Rose clambered up onto her Mothers bed and hugged her tightly.

'I missed you Mummy,' Rose said as she cuddled up closer to Hermione.

'I missed you too sweetheart,' Hermione said honestly as she kissed her daughter on the forehead and stroked her hair, 'did the nurses fix your hair this morning?' she asked as she stroked it, 'it's lovely.'

Rose shook her head and said, 'Draco did it for me!'

It was only then that Hermione looked to the doorway where Draco was leaning with a smile on his face.

'Hey,' Hermione said softly when she saw him

'Hi,' Draco said as he crossed the room swiftly and kissed her lightly on the lips, Rose giggled and Hermione blushed slightly.

'Don't ever do that to me again,' Draco whispered in her ear as he sat down by her bed.

Hermione was shocked at Draco's comment, this was a softer side of him that she had never seen before.

'Did Harry tell you about the investigation?' Hermione asked as she stroked Rose's hair absentmindedly.

Draco shook his head, 'the last I saw him was late last night, he was still pretty shaken up.'

'Was this before or after he broke your nose?' Hermione asked with raised eyebrows.

'Technically, I broke his nose first,' Draco remarked.

'And you're a little proud of it, aren't you?' Hermione asked, reading the slight smirk on Draco's face.

'Just a little,' Draco admitted.

Hermione sighed, 'I spoke to him this morning. He said he thinks someone was behind the explosion. The hole in the gas pipe was man made, it wasn't created from wear and tear.'

Draco nodded, he suspected this of course. He knew that he needed to talk to Hermione about the investigation but he couldn't when Rose was around.

'Harry asked me if I wanted to stay at Grimmauld Place,' Hermione informed Draco which pulled him out of his daze.

'You can't go back to your flat?' Draco asked, although the last he remembered the entire front of the house was blown off.

Hermione shook her head, 'Harry seems to think it's damaged too badly,' she said, 'I'll have to find somewhere else to stay.'

Draco was still struggling to adjust slightly since his realisation the night before about his feelings for Hermione, he knew he would scare her off if he mentioned anything now. The thought crossed his mind about telling Hermione that she and Rose could stay in the Manor, but he didn't want her to freak out and think he was asking her to move in with him.

'Well,' Draco said after what seemed like an incredibly long pause, 'you and Rose are always welcome to stay at the Manor.'

Hermione would have been lying if she had said the thought hadn't crossed her mind. She had been wondering about it all morning despite Harry's warning that Draco could be bringing more trouble to her life. She maintained that it wasn't his fault however.

'I'll think about it,' Hermione said with a smile which seemed to take Draco by surprise. He had probably expected her to turn the offer down right away.

'I wish I could stay all day,' Draco said with a sigh, 'but unfortunately I need to get back to the Manor to check on Scorpius and have a discussion with my Mother about you.'

Hermione chuckled at the look on Draco's face, 'I take it that she doesn't approve then?'

'She didn't give much away when I talked to her via floo last night,' Draco admitted, 'but I gather she isn't exactly excited about our relationship.'

'That hardly comes as a surprise,' Hermione said as she shook her head, 'is it because of my blood status?'

'Likely,' Draco replied, 'combined with the fact you're a Gryffindor.'

Hermione laughed and said, 'a Muggle-born Gryffindor, how _dare _you stoop so low Draco?'

'That was a scarily good impression of my Mother,' Draco said through his laughter, he got up from his seat and kissed Hermione on the cheek, 'I'll visit you later today.'

'Okay,' Hermione said, 'Bye Draco.'

'Bye Rose,' Draco added as he kissed Rose on the cheek.

Rose waved happily, she seemed better now that she was with Hermione, 'bye Draco!'

* * *

When Draco returned to Malfoy Manor via the fireplace in the sitting room he was cornered by his Mother.

'Ah Draco, finally,' Narcissa said, fixing him with a slightly cold look.

Draco rolled his eyes and walked away from his Mother towards the entrance hallway, 'Scorp!' he called.

'Don't ignore me Draco,' Narcissa said briskly.

'I'm not ignoring you Mother,' Draco said as he made his way up the stairs, 'Scorp!'

This time he heard footsteps running along the corridor above him and a moment later Scorpius rushed down the stairs, 'Dad! You're back!'

'Hey little man,' Draco said as he picked his son up and hugged him, 'I'm sorry for leaving you last night. I had to go and help Hermione and Rose.'

'Grandma says they are in the hospital!' Scorpius said with a frown.

'They are, but they are going to be okay,' Draco said as he put his son back down on his feet, 'we can go and visit them later if you'd like.'

Scorpius nodded, 'Can I take Rose a present?'

'Course you can,' Draco said, ruffling Scorpius's hair.

'I'm going to go and make a present for her!' Scorpius said and with that he rushed back up the stairs as noisily as he had come down.

'Draco,' Narcissa said sharply, 'we are having that discussion now.'

'Yes Mother,' Draco said in a monotone as he walked back down the stairs and followed his Mother to the sitting room. He sat down on the sofa and Narcissa sat down next to him.

'So Mother, what is it that you are so desperate to talk about?' Draco asked sarcastically.

'Don't take that tone with me Draco. You know I wish to discuss your relationship with Hermione Granger,' Narcissa said with narrowed eyes.

'What about it?' Draco asked nonchalantly.

'What exactly is the nature of this relationship?' Narcissa asked.

'Uh, she's my girlfriend,' Draco replied as if this were obvious.

'Don't be smart with me Draco,' Narcissa snapped, 'is this actually a serious relationship or is it a fling?'

'It's not a fling Mother,' Draco droned.

'Then you need to end it,' Narcissa said curtly.

'I had a feeling that would be your opinion,' Draco said.

'This isn't a joke Draco,' Narcissa said angrily.

'I'm not ending my relationship with Hermione just because you don't approve of her blood-status Mother,' Draco drawled as he got to his feet, 'I don't have to live by your rules anymore.'

'Draco the fact you are dating a mudblood is bad enough,' Narcissa hissed, 'but you just _had _to pick this one, didn't you? Do you know what your Father would say about this?'

'I don't care what Father would say and I don't care what _you _think Mother,' Draco said bitterly, 'I didn't _pick _her, I fell in love with her.'

'She's a war hero Draco, and up until recently she was the Deputy Minister for Magic,' Narcissa said in an angry undertone, 'has it crossed your mind that she is using you? You know how close she is with Harry Potter.'

'Mother she isn't using me,' Draco snapped, 'the war ended 7 years ago and while you may choose to live a paranoid life like we are still in the middle of the war, I don't and neither does Hermione.'

'Despite what you may think Draco,' Narcissa said quietly, 'I don't care about the social standing of the women you date, but you seem to forget that I was the person who aided you throughout Astoria's death. I don't want to see you get hurt like that again.'

'While I appreciate the concern Mother, I won't spend my life alone because I'm afraid. I would rather take risks, something you don't seem to understand,' Draco said, in the same quiet tone as his Mother.

'In that case I believe we have nothing more to say to each other,' Narcissa said as she got to her feet, 'I think I'll go back to my paranoid life in Monaco, which seems much more private than your life here by the way.'

'Ah you always have to leave with an insult don't you Mother?' Draco called after his Mother as she disappeared into the fireplace.

* * *

After his Mother left Draco dropped Scorpius off at Theo's house and apparated to the gates outside Zabini House. If it hadn't been for the fact that Pansy had attacked Hermione Draco would have filed this information away and kept it for blackmail purposes. However because Pansy _had _targeted Hermione he wasn't letting her get away with it, he didn't want her to have the thrill of knowing she had gotten away with any of this.

Draco hated confrontations, he had ended up in so many with Harry Potter during his school days but with people he knew, and had at one time liked, he hated it. He didn't feel it was fair, but sometimes there were no other options. As Draco walked up the path to the house, which was nowhere near as grand as Malfoy Manor, he found himself feeling full of anger and frustration. He hadn't felt this way since the war.

When he knocked on the front door he expected Pansy to answer it since she didn't work. He was surprised when Blaise pulled open the door.

'Blaise, hey,' Draco said, rethinking his plan, 'I thought you would be at work.'

'It's my day off,' Blaise said with a frown, 'I guess you were looking for Pansy then?'

'Yeah,' Draco said because he couldn't think of anything else to say.

'She's at Diagon Alley,' Blaise said, still frowning, 'why do you want with _my _wife?'

'Can I come in?' Draco asked, 'I need to talk to you Blaise, it's serious.'

'Sure,' Blaise said as he stepped back from the door and let Draco walk into the entrance hall.

'Come into the kitchen,' Blaise said, leading Draco into a large kitchen diner.

'So what's up?' Blaise asked, he was an Auror, he studied human behaviour so he must have known something was seriously wrong with Draco.

'Has Pansy been acting differently lately?' Draco asked carefully.

'Not really, she's been as high-maintenance as ever,' Blaise joked with a smile.

Draco sighed, he didn't know how to tell his friend what he needed too, so he decided to just come out with it, 'Blaise, she tried to kill my girlfriend.'

Blaise froze, 'You don't even have a girlfriend.'

'Yes I do,' Draco said, 'what the press printed about Hermione and I was true,' he added.

'So you and the Gryffindor girl are dating, why the hell do you think my wife attacked her?' Blaise asked defensively.

'I got my Head of Security to follow the reporter who took the pictures Blaise, he followed him here, he saw Pansy pay him off,' Draco said guiltily. He was breaking apart a marriage here and he hated that.

'So you're accusing her of attacking your Potter girl just because she got that reporter to take those photos?' Blaise asked angrily, 'you don't have any proof she caused that explosion.'

'How do you know about the explosion?' Draco asked quickly.

'I was working last night when Potter and Wood were called out to it,' Blaise replied, glaring at Draco, 'don't tell me you think I had a hand in it too?'

'I don't think that,' Draco said quickly, he pulled the brown envelope that Seamus had given him out of his pocket and handed it to Blaise, 'look, there's proof she set the reporter on me. Blaise she had an obsession with me, after the war and at Astoria's wake she tried to ask me out,' Draco hated doing this but he had too, 'I think she attacked Hermione because she was jealous.'

Blaise examined the photos and sat down heavily in a chair by the dining room table, 'I can't believe she would be that immature Draco, or that stupid.'

'Think about it Blaise, you're an Auror, she probably thought that would help her get away with it,' Draco said, he was praying Blaise would believe him.

'I spoke to Roger this morning, he told me that the hole in the gas pipe at your girlfriends place was created with magic,' Blaise said with a sigh, 'somebody also set off the gas leak with the use of 'Bombarda' outside of the flat.'

'So you know it was no accident,' Draco said quietly.

'But that doesn't mean my wife was behind it Draco,' Blaise said, refusing to believe that Pansy was responsible for the attack.

'What does Draco think I did this time?' a familiar female voice asked as Pansy walked into the room holding bags of groceries which she dropped on the table.

'Let him tell you himself,' Blaise said, looking back to Draco who now seemed angry, his calm façade gone.

'I don't think Pansy, I know,' Draco hissed as he got to his feet, 'I know you set that reporter on me, I've got pictures of you paying him off. I also know you made a hole in that gas pipe and set fire to Hermione's flat. Well, I foiled your plan, I got to her and saved her before the fire killed her.'

'Draco,' Pansy said with a smile, 'I have no idea what you're talking about, but you sound a little insane.'

'Well I've got the pictures to prove you paid off the reporter,' Draco said as he thrust the photos into her hands.

Pansy turned her nose up at this, 'So what? I paid that reporter to publish that you were dating the Gryffindor scum. Since when was that a crime?'

'It isn't, but arson is,' Blaise said as he narrowed his eyes at his wife.

'So you're taking his side?' Pansy spat, 'typical, you always did at school!'

'And where were you last night Pansy?' Blaise asked.

'How _dare _you?' Pansy hissed, 'I was in bed here like I always am, alone because you're always at work!'

'Really? So you won't mind if we ask the house elves?' Draco asked, raising an eyebrow at Pansy.

'Ask them if you want, go on, I don't care,' Pansy spat.

Blaise then said, 'Okay we'll do that then. Twinky,' he called and a house elf appeared in front of him, 'Twinky, was my wife in the house for the duration of last night?'

'No Master Zabini,' the house elf replied.

'Well it's obviously lying!' Pansy shrieked.

'Twinky can't lie to me, I'm her Master,' Blaise said as he glared at his wife, 'what did you do last night Pansy?'

'Okay so I haven't been entirely truthful with you,' Pansy said with a sigh, 'I wasn't in last night, but it wasn't because I was attacking Draco's girlfriend.'

'What _were _you doing then?' Blaise asked dangerously.

'I was sleeping with someone else!' Pansy blurted out.

'Who?' Blaise asked in that same low, dangerous tone.

'Theo,' Pansy said quietly.

'Shut up Pansy,' Draco hissed, 'Theo has higher standards than that.'

'Well obviously his standards aren't as high as you think Draco,' Pansy said.

'You're lying,' Blaise said, narrowing his eyes at her, 'I spoke to Theo last night.'

Pansy floundered for a moment as she tried to think of something to say.

'I can't believe you would _make up_ an affair to get out of the truth,' Blaise hissed angrily, 'does our relationship mean nothing to you?'

'Oh shut up Blaise, you're pathetic! I don't know why I married you in the first place!' Pansy said as she glared at her husband.

'We both know you only married me because you couldn't get your claws into Draco like you spent years trying too,' Blaise said in a pained tone.

Draco felt very awkward, and incredibly guilty as he watched from the side-lines. He was about to move in to try and stop them from fighting when the back door that led into the kitchen burst open and 4 Aurors ran in, Harry, Oliver and Blaise's partner Roger Davies among them.

Harry grabbed Pansy as she attempted to run away, 'Pansy Zabini, I'm arresting you on the charges of arson and attempted murder.'

'What? You have no proof!' Pansy shouted.

'We found your wand signature and essence of your magical trace in the Granger residence,' Oliver said.

'And for someone whose married to an Auror you aren't very good at committing crime,' Harry said as he bound her hands together, 'we found one of your hairs in the utility cupboard in Miss. Grangers home.'

'You couldn't have! The fire should have-' Pansy stopped, realising her slip up.

'The fire didn't do as much damage as you hoped. Draco got there in time to stop it and save the people inside,' Harry said, and Draco was pretty sure that was the first time Harry had called him by his first name, ever.

'Ugh!' Pansy practically screamed as Harry and Oliver dragged her out of the house, 'fuck you Draco! Trying to be the hero, just like you did in the war! I hate you!'

There was a loud crack and the Aurors and Pansy were gone.

Draco turned to Blaise, 'I'm so sorry about all of this.'

Blaise stared off into the distance, 'I should have expected it. I knew she was only settling for me because she couldn't have you.'

'I never thought she was this unhinged,' Draco said with a deep sigh.

'Not everyone came away from the war as untouched as you did Draco,' Blaise sighed.

'Untouched?' Draco snorted, 'I was hardly untouched, perhaps I just coped with the aftermath better.'

Blaise merely nodded and Draco turned to walk away.

'Draco?'

'Yeah?' Draco asked as he turned around. Before he had time to block it Blaise had swung and punched him in the face.

'Ah!' Draco shouted in pain, 'what was that for?'

'Ruining my marriage,' Blaise said simply as he handed Draco a towel to wipe the blood away with.

'That's the second time in 24 hours I've had my nose broken,' Draco said as he dabbed his nose with the towel, it hurt like hell.

'That's got to be a record.'

_**TBC :)**_

_**A/N: Hope you are all enjoying this story :D I'm trying to update fairly regularly! :)  
**_


	10. Decisions, Decisions, Decisions

**The War is Over**

**Chapter 10 -Decisions, Decisions, Decisions  
**

Hermione smiled absentmindedly as she watched her daughter playing with a set of toy broomsticks as she sat at the end of her bed. Since Draco had left earlier that day many questions had been flying around her head. She had been visited by a Medi-Witch who informed her that she would be in hospital for around a week.

'Rose?'

'Yes Mummy,' Rose said, looking up from her toys.

'You know there was a fire in our house, don't you?' Hermione asked gently.

Rose nodded, fear flashing across her face.

'Well sweetheart we can't go back,' Hermione said softly, 'we need to stay somewhere else until we have a new house.'

'Okay Mummy,' Rose said, she sounded sad about this.

'Come here sweetie,' Hermione said, holding out her arms and letting Rose crawl up the bed onto her lap, 'we can stay with Uncle Harry but you will have to share a room with Al if we do,' she said, 'or we can stay with Draco and Scorpius.'

'Will I have to share a room with Scorpius?' Rose asked thoughtfully.

'I don't think so,' Hermione replied, she had never seen the extent of Malfoy Manor inside but judging from the size of it from the outside she was fairly sure Rose would have her own room.

'I like Al,' Rose said, 'but Lily cries all the time and James is mean to me.'

'I know he can be nasty sometimes, but James is still your family Rose,' Hermione said as she surveyed her daughter.

'I think I would like to stay with Scorpius Mummy,' Rose said after a moment of deliberation.

'I think that I would that too Rose,' Hermione said, kissing her daughter on the cheek.

A knock on the door then distracted Hermione, 'come in,' she called.

Harry walked into the hospital room looking quite serious, 'hey Mione,' he said, kissing her on the cheek and sitting down by her bed, 'I have news for you.'

'Okay,' Hermione said, glancing nervously at Rose, 'do you want to play with your toys while I talk to Uncle Harry Rose?'

Rose nodded and crawled back down to the bottom of the bed where she went back to playing with her toy broomsticks.

Harry spoke in an undertone to Hermione, 'we made an arrest earlier today.'

'You did?' Hermione asked in a whisper.

Harry nodded, 'We examined the flat, and we found this persons magical trace. We also found a strand of hair in your utility cupboard linking the flat to them.'

'Who was it Harry?' Hermione asked, dreading the answer.

'It was Pansy,' Harry whispered back, 'Pansy Zabini, or Parkinson as we knew her.'

Hermione was shocked by this initially, 'Why would she want to set that reporter on us and try to kill me?'

'Oliver is taking her statement right now, but our best guess is jealousy,' Harry admitted, 'she has an obsession with Malfoy, she always has done, you remember how she was at school.'

Hermione nodded, still shocked, 'Has she been charged?'

'Arson and attempted murder,' Harry said, slipping his hand into Hermione's, 'you were lucky Hermione.'

'I know,' Hermione sighed, all day all she had been able to think about was what could have happened, 'I'm so glad Draco got there when he did.'

'About that,' Harry said sheepishly, 'we need to question him.'

'Why?' Hermione asked in an angry undertone.

'Hermione, he and Pansy were close,' Harry whispered, trying to keep his voice down so that Rose wouldn't hear anything, 'my team think it's suspicious that he just happened to turn up at the right moment to save you and Rose.'

'Harry-'

'It's a serious concern Hermione,' Harry said, cutting his best friend off, 'and I have no control over it. I may be a Senior Auror now but I'm not in charge, the head Auror asked me to bring him in for questioning. He raised a very accurate point, how did Malfoy know you were in danger?'

'I don't know,' Hermione sighed, 'maybe he was just in the right place at the right time.'

'Maybe,' Harry said, 'but either way I need to question him. I just thought you deserved to know the truth.'

'Thanks Harry, I appreciate that,' Hermione said and she really did, 'I suppose now would be a bad time to tell you that I'm staying with Draco for a while until I find a new place.'

'I suspected that's what you would do anyway,' Harry said with a smile, 'and all I want is for you to be happy Hermione. You were always wiser than me, I think I need to catch up and realise that the war was a long time ago.'

Hermione smiled back, 'I don't see the point in living in the past,' she admitted, 'and judging Draco for the boy he was in the war wouldn't be fair considering the fact he's a different man now.'

'I understand,' Harry said with a smile, 'and I approve as much as I can given the identity of your new catch.'

Hermione chuckled and hugged Harry, 'Thanks Harry, that means a lot all things considered.'

* * *

Draco Malfoy had already had a busy, and eventful day by the time he got back from Zabini house. He wasn't exactly thrilled for that reason when he emerged from the fireplace at Nott Manor to pick up his son and found Theo wasn't the only person in the sitting room.

'Uh Theo, is there any particular reason you have two Gryffindor Aurors in your home?' Draco asked with a raised eyebrow when he saw Harry and Oliver.

'They're waiting for you,' Theo said, 'I kept Scorpius upstairs, I didn't want him to see his Father getting arrested.'

'I appreciate that,' Draco said honestly to Theo.

'So what _have _you done this time Draco?' Theo asked, sounding vaguely amused.

'I have no idea,' Draco admitted, looking at the Aurors, 'what _have _I done?'

'We need to question you about your presence at the Granger residence last night Mr. Malfoy,' Oliver said curtly.

'I should have thought that was obvious, I was visiting my girlfriend or saving her life depending on your point of view,' Draco said simply, he was lying of course but he didn't want to tell them about the investigation. Independent investigation wasn't illegal, but it was frowned upon.

'We're having this discussion in a more formal setting Mr. Malfoy,' Harry said, 'we need to take you to the office.'

'Alright,' Draco sighed, it wouldn't be the first time he had been taken to the Auror offices. He turned to Theo, 'I'm sorry, can you keep Scorpius longer?'

'He's my Godson Draco, I'll look after him for as long as you need me to,' Theo admitted with a smile.

'I promised him I'd take him to see Hermione and Rose in the hospital,' Draco sighed.

'I'll keep him entertained, don't worry, I'm sure he'll forget about it,' Theo said, patting Draco on the shoulder.

'Okay then Potter,' Draco said, just a touch of his old bitterness coming into his voice, 'Let's get this over with.'

'Sorry Malfoy, it has to be done,' Harry said as he bound Draco's hands and apparated with him to the 'holding entrance' to the Auror department which was essentially a tiny room with no windows and a door that only an Aurors wand signature could unlock.

Oliver unlocked the door and Harry walked with Draco along the corridor which was essentially an underground bunker. The Auror headquarters were very prison-like, they were on basement level two so they were essentially fairly deep underground. The walls, floor and roof were all concrete and the whole place had a cold, creepy feel to it. The Senior Aurors offices were a different story however, they were bright and colourful with fake windows, Draco knew from the time he had visited Harry in his office.

At the end of the corridor Oliver used his wand signature to open a solid steel door and Harry led Draco inside the interrogation room. He was sat down in an uncomfortable metal chair while Harry and Oliver took a seat on the other side of the metal table.

'Do you guys ever redecorate?' Draco asked as he looked around, 'a splash of colour would do wonders for the place.'

'I take it you're familiar with this room Malfoy?' Harry asked in amusement.

'I've taken a leaf out of your book in recent years Potter,' Draco said smoothly, 'I seem to always end up in the wrong place at the wrong time.'

'I think it's more likely that you use that as your excuse while your informants are paying off my colleagues,' Harry challenged with a raised eyebrow.

Draco smirked, 'Perhaps,' he said simply, 'although you have no evidence of this of course.'

'No,' Harry said, watching Draco carefully, 'you're far too clever for that.'

'Thank you Potter, I'll take that as a compliment,' Draco said as he leant back in his uncomfortable chair.

'You know something Malfoy, I can't work out if you're terrible for Hermione or perfect for her,' Harry said thoughtfully as he surveyed Draco.

'Can we get back to our purpose here Harry?' Oliver asked, he was clearly playing bad cop, 'the investigation.'

'Alright Mr. Malfoy,' Harry began, starting the 'official' interrogation, 'I need you to tell me the truth here. If you don't Mrs. Zabini might get away with this.'

Draco nodded, he knew this of course.

'How did you know that Miss. Granger and her daughter were in danger?' Harry asked carefully.

'When the photographs were published in the paper I asked my Head of Security to investigate the reporter who had published the story,' Draco admitted.

'You had an independent investigation ongoing?' Oliver asked.

'Yes, I did,' Draco replied simply.

'You should have called us immediately,' Harry notified Draco.

'Potter surely you understand why I didn't,' Draco said smoothly, 'people like us don't want our private life to go public. Had I called in Aurors it would have been public knowledge that I was investigating those photographs. I didn't want the person who had hired that reporter to have the satisfaction of knowing they had gotten to me.'

'I understand,' Harry said quickly before Oliver could speak, 'what did your Head of Security find out from this investigation?'

'He determined how the reporter took the pictures and that someone I knew hired him because they knew the location of my Manor which is unplottable. A couple of days later he came back with pictures of Pansy paying the reporter off and that was when I realised that Hermione was in danger,' Draco explained.

'How did this enable you to realise that Miss. Granger was in danger?' Oliver asked.

'Pansy has a history, Potter surely you remember from our school days, she has an obsession with me,' Draco sighed.

Harry nodded, 'I remember Malfoy.'

'Pansy tried to get together with me after the war and practically screamed at me when I turned her down. Then she did the same thing at my late wife's wake just hours after I had buried her,' Draco said, his voice breaking slightly, 'I remembered this and I knew that the photographs were just the start of her plan and that I wasn't the target, Hermione was.'

'How did she know that you and Miss. Granger were in a relationship?' Oliver asked.

'I don't know,' Draco admitted, 'we were very quiet about it all. I only told my friend Theodore Nott, and Hermione only told Rose's Godparents.'

'Who are Rose's Godparents?' Oliver asked and Draco caught Harry's eye, 'Harry and Ginny Potter,' he answered.

'I didn't have anything to do with it, and neither did Ginny,' Harry said to Draco, 'but I assure you we'll try to find out how she obtained this information.'

Draco nodded, hoping he would be allowed to leave soon.

'There's one last thing Malfoy, we need to take the name of your Head of Security so that he can verify the information you have given us,' Harry said, his quill poised on a piece of parchment.

'Sure,' Draco said, he had expected this after all, 'Finnigan, Seamus Finnigan.'

Harry raised an eyebrow at Draco as he noted this down.

'I know what you're thinking Potter,' Draco said at this look, 'but despite his lack of cunning, he makes a good Head of Security.'

'I saw him in the war, I can believe that,' Harry said simply, he looked up at Draco, 'you're free to go Malfoy. Oliver will see you out.'

Draco nodded, 'Alright, see you around Potter.'

* * *

The day after Draco's stint in an interrogation room he followed through on his promise and took Scorpius to visit Hermione and Rose in St. Mungo's. Scorpius was excited and had made a present each for Rose and Hermione.

Draco chuckled when they reached Hermione's room and Scorpius rushed in without knocking on the door.

'Hey Scorpius,' Hermione said as Scorpius hugged her.

'I'm glad you're okay Hermione,' Scorpius said which made Draco smile. Rose was sitting in a comfortable chair in the corner of the room but she had jumped up when she saw Scorpius.

'Scorpius look what Uncle Harry gave me because I had to be in hospital!' Rose said eagerly as she showed Scorpius her new book which appeared to be some kind of potions book.

'Cool!' Scorpius said, 'I made you a present Rose,' he said, handing her a brown paper package.

'I like presents!' Rose said as she ripped the paper off. The present Scorpius had made her was a map, 'oooh, what is it?'

'It's a map of my house,' Scorpius told her, 'Dad said you might be staying for a while so I made it in case you get lost!'

'Cool!' Rose said, 'thanks Scorpius!'

'I made one for you too Hermione,' Scorpius said as he handed Hermione a matching brown package which she opened to reveal a similar map.

'That's lovely Scorpius, thank you,' Hermione said genuinely.

Draco smiled and sat down next to Hermione. The two kids were now so busy talking that they could actually talk privately for the first time.

'I'm sorry I didn't visit again yesterday,' Draco said, 'I ended up getting picked up by Aurors.'

'Harry told me,' Hermione admitted, 'how did it go?'

'Fine,' Draco said truthfully, 'they just wanted to know how I knew to get to you that night.'

Hermione nodded, biting her lip, 'How _did _you know Draco?'

Draco lied once more, still not telling Hermione about the investigation, 'I found out that Pansy knew the reporter and guessed she was the one who had hired him to take the pictures,' technically he was telling Hermione the truth, just not the whole truth, 'I knew Pansy had a history of obsession with me and I was worried she would try to hurt you so I apparated to your flat.'

'Why didn't you tell me about Pansy if you knew?' Hermione asked, she felt slightly hurt.

'I'm sorry,' Draco said, 'I just didn't want to involve you in it. I didn't want to put you in danger but it seems that I did anyway.'

'Don't worry about it,' Hermione said quickly, 'you couldn't control what Pansy did. She was always a little unstable.'

Draco chuckled at that, 'Yeah, that much is true,' he said, sharing something with Hermione only a few people knew, 'she tried to sleep with me at Astoria's wake.'

Hermione's jaw dropped, 'Really? That's so disrespectful.'

'Pansy has never been quite…right,' Draco said with a sigh, 'but she'll be going to Azkaban now.'

'How long for?' Hermione asked.

'I'm not sure, with the combined arson and attempted murder charge probably about 30 years,' Draco replied.

'I don't like her, but that's not a life I'd wish upon anyone,' Hermione said with a deep sigh.

Draco took Hermione's hand and nodded, 'I know,' he said, his eyes becoming unfocused as he thought about all of the people he knew who were in Azkaban, people like his Father and his old friend Gregory Goyle.

'Draco,' Hermione said softly, 'I thought about your offer…about the Manor.'

Draco's eyes lit up slightly at this which made Hermione smile, 'I talked to Rose about it and we would quite like to move in, if you still want us too.'

'Of course I do,' Draco said with a smile, 'although I might have to warn the house elves. It's been a few years since they've had females in the house.'

Hermione smiled ruefully, 'how many do you have?'

'Just two,' Draco replied, 'Zelder and Velder, they're sisters.'

'And you treat them right?' Hermione asked.

'I treat them like part of the family,' Draco replied honestly, 'my Father treated our house elf Dobby terribly Hermione, but I was always rather fond of him.'

Hermione nodded, 'I understand now that I can't force them to get paid or take holiday, or wear clothes. By doing that I'd only be making them unhappy.'

Draco nodded, rather glad Hermione's mind-set on house elves had changed slightly, 'I'm glad you think that way, without house elves we would live on food from tins.'

'So you can't cook?' Hermione asked with a chuckle.

'I can cook,' Draco said, 'just not very well.'

Hermione laughed at this and said, 'you and Harry are more alike than you know.'

'Oh, Merlin.'

* * *

The following week passed by fairly quickly with Rose being looked after by Harry in Grimmauld Place while Hermione was in hospital. Harry or Ginny brought her daughter in to visit her every day, and she had periodic visits from Draco too who often brought Scorpius along.

When Hermione woke up on Wednesday morning, a week after the fire, she felt slightly nervous. The Medi-Witch was doing the standard checks to make sure that she was okay to be discharged today and Draco would be here any minute to take her back to the Manor where she would floo Ginny who would send Rose through. They had already gotten it all planned out but the nerves were kicking in now that the day was finally here.

The plan was temporary of course, Hermione and Rose would only be staying in the Manor until they could find a place of their own, or at least that's what Draco and Hermione were saying to each other. Hermione couldn't speak for Draco, but part of her knew this move was more permanent than they were letting on. It made more sense for Rose and Scorpius, and since the fire they had felt closer than ever before.

Hermione took a deep breath when she heard a knock on the door, 'come in!'

Draco walked into the hospital room in his work clothes which for him consisted of black trousers, a white shirt and a white lab coat with the St. Mungo's coat of arms emblazoned proudly on it underneath the words 'St. Mungo's Hospital for Magical Maladies and Injuries'.

'Good morning Healer Malfoy,' the Medi-Witch treating Hermione said, 'Miss. Granger is ready to be discharged,' she handed Draco a piece of parchment which he glanced over and signed.

The Medi-Witch thanked Draco and left the room, Draco turned to Hermione and recognised what was going on in her head, 'you're freaking out a little bit right now, aren't you?'

'A little,' Hermione admitted sheepishly.

Draco sat down by her bedside, 'I understand why,' he said, 'but remember this is just temporary while you look for a new flat.'

Hermione nodded, 'Right,' she said.

'Here,' Draco said as he handed Hermione a bag, 'Potter salvaged some clothes from your flat for you to change into.'

'Thanks,' Hermione said weakly as Draco said, 'I'll wait outside.'

When Draco had left the room Hermione changed quickly, she felt her stomach churning with nerves. She hadn't been able to eat anything all day. When she was changed she grabbed her bag and walked out of the room.

Draco was leaning casually against the wall and pushed himself off of it when he saw Hermione, 'hey,' he said.

'Hey,' Hermione said a little shakily.

Draco smiled and hooked his arm through Hermione's as they made their way downstairs towards the floo gates, 'stop worrying about it,' he said simply and for some reason Hermione did. She didn't know if it was the way Draco had said it or if it just happened to coincide with her brain deciding it was time to start taking more risks, but for once Hermione stopped worrying about the consequences of her actions and resolved to instead just enjoy her life.

* * *

Once at Malfoy Manor Hermione felt even more like a fish out of water when she realised this would be her home for the next little while.

'Can I use the floo?' Hermione asked Draco the moment they had arrived through the fireplace in the sitting room.

Draco nodded, aware of Hermione's discomfort but pretending he couldn't notice it, 'of course, I'll just go and fetch Scorpius.'

Hermione took a deep breath as Draco walked away and threw some floo powder into the fire.

'Grimmauld Place, Kitchen.'

Hermione opened her eyes to see that Ginny already had Rose ready to go, 'Hey Gin,' Hermione said as her friend waved to her.

'Hey Hermione, shall I send Rose through?'

'Please do,' Hermione said with a smile, 'Thanks for watching her this past week Ginny.'

'No problem Hermione,' Ginny said as Hermione pulled her head from the fireplace and stepped back. She glanced around the sitting room as she waited for Rose to come through. Everything about Malfoy Manor was different from what she had known in her Muggle flat, the furniture thankfully wasn't all green and Slytherin as she had imagined. It was however very grand and posh, like a Muggle stately home.

'Mummy!'

Hermione was pulled from her daydream by Rose's voice and turned around just as her daughter grabbed her around the legs and hugged her.

'Hey Rose,' Hermione said as she lifted her daughter up, 'I missed you.'

'I missed you too Mummy,' Rose said.

'Rose!' Scorpius ran into the room followed by Draco.

'I think Scorpius is excited about giving you both the tour,' Draco said with a chuckle, he was pleased to see Hermione looked slightly less intimidated.

'A tour?' Hermione asked as she put Rose down so she could play with Scorpius.

'I thought, since you will be leaving here now I'd give you the grand tour,' Draco smirked, 'what do you think?'

'It sounds like a great idea,' Hermione said, looking at Rose who was bouncing up and down.

'Scorpius says we can see the whole house!' Rose was saying as she bounced.

'We can,' Draco said with a smile, 'come on let's get started.'

* * *

An hour later Hermione felt completely stunned by the scale of Malfoy Manor. She had thought she had seen most of it, but she had barely even scratched the surface. The Manor had 4 floors, and a basement. The basement consisted of a kitchen for the house elves, a swimming pool with its own sauna, a storage room which Draco hadn't unlocked since he inherited the Manor, and a cellar. Hermione found the tour to be generally rather astounding, it had taken her by surprise the sheer scale of the place but Draco had helped to ease that with comments that made Hermione laugh, like how he had explained a rather strange room leading off of the cellar to her.

'_What's that?'_

'_Oh that's a secret room,' Draco said, the concrete wall was slightly paler at one segment, 'it's opened by magic,' he added as he waved his wand across the concrete which vanished._

'_It's just an empty concrete room,' Hermione said as she glanced inside, it was around the same size as a broom cupboard. _

'_It has a vaguely interesting history,' Draco admitted, as he led Hermione out of the cellar. He had told Rose and Scorpius to wait at the top of the stairs. Hermione didn't know it, but this was where Harry and Ron had been held captive while she had been tortured by Bellatrix._

'_How so?' Hermione asked as they climbed the steep stairs leading into the cellar._

'_It was used as a priest hole when the house was originally built, my family had to act like Muggles so they had a priest and when there was religious upheaval in the Muggle world the family priest would hide in it,' Draco explained._

'_That is interesting,' Hermione said, she didn't know that people like the Malfoys had mixed with Muggles but she supposed in medieval times it must have been harder to hide than it was now._

'_My Father of course didn't care about the Muggle history of it,' Draco remarked with a chuckle, 'he used it to hide his mistresses from my Mother.'_

'_Wow,' Hermione said, she was surprised that Draco found this amusing, 'didn't that bother you? Knowing that he was doing that?'_

'_I was 5 years old, all I knew was that if I did as he said and didn't tell my Mother he bought me sweets,' Draco admitted with a smirk that made Hermione laugh._

Draco then moved the tour onto the ground floor which Hermione thought she had seen most of. As it happened she had only seen the sitting room, bathroom and the informal dining room. There was also on this floor the pantry, drawing room, another bathroom, two reception rooms and a conservatory. There were also several sets of stairs including the main staircase in the entrance hall which split into two spiral staircases leading to the East and West wings of the house. The house was rather mismatched in some senses with reception rooms that had staircases leading to bedrooms.

The first floor was just as large and impressive and housed the formal dining room, _another _reception room, 2 bathrooms, 2 bedrooms, a medieval armoury and a trophy room. Draco didn't seem too fond the trophy room.

'_I don't come in here often,' Draco admitted as he looked around at the glass cabinets._

'_Why not?' Hermione asked curiously, she glanced at the trophies, Draco's name was on a few but the names 'Lucius' and 'Abraxas' cropped up regularly._

'_None of these trophies were won,' Draco sighed, 'they were all bought. None of them reflect any merit on my family's part.'_

'_This one does,' Hermione said as she pointed to the newest trophy which was made out to 'Draco Lucius Malfoy'. It had been awarded to him for 'incredible bravery in the face of danger'._

'_How did you get it?' Hermione asked curiously._

'_I saved two Aurors,' Draco said with a slight frown, 'I started out my career in medicine in trauma. I was a field Healer and I got sent to a job where a group of Death Eaters who had escaped after the war attacked Aurors as they tried to arrest them. The fight was still going on around me as I tried to save them, and two of my colleagues were killed.'_

'_I can see why that got you a trophy for bravery,' Hermione admitted with a smile._

'_Two of the Aurors died, I didn't do my job well enough,' Draco said, a haunted look in his eyes._

_Hermione took his hand, 'I've said the same thing to a certain boy-who-lived believe it or not, you can't save everyone Draco.'_

After that Draco and Hermione hadn't dropped hands throughout the rest of the 'tour'. Hermione had discovered the rest of the first floor which also housed a large open plan library and study with a balcony leading off of it which looked out over the grounds. Hermione had a feeling she and Rose would be spending a lot of time in this room. The last room on this floor was locked and Draco informed Hermione that it stayed that way because it had been his Fathers personal study and it was most definitely not safe for children.

They then moved onto the second floor which was the most exciting for Rose because she got to see what would become her new bedroom.

'_This will be your room Rose,' Draco said as he opened the door and let Rose walk in._

_It was a fairly simple room at the moment with beige walls and not much in the way of furniture apart from a single bed._

'_It's not quite as big as Scorps,' Draco admitted to Hermione as Rose eagerly explored, 'but it's the next biggest room in the Manor.'_

'_It's huge Draco,' Hermione said, shaking her head in disbelief, 'it's twice the size of what she had in our little flat.'_

_The room was perfect and Hermione knew when Rose's furniture from the old flat was in it that it would feel much more like home for her, there was only one problem…_

'_Draco, please tell me that isn't a balcony,' Hermione said slowly as she saw the glass doors at the far end of the room._

'_Uh, that isn't a balcony,' Draco lied._

'_How do I know it's safe?' Hermione asked anxiously._

'_It's locked permanently Hermione, Scorp has access to it from his bedroom too,' Draco assured his girlfriend._

'_Draco,' Hermione said slowly, 'you do remember why Rose and I ended up in St. Mungo's, don't you?'_

'_Uh no, why did you end up in St. Mungo's?' Draco asked._

'_Rose smashed our patio doors with accidental magic,' Hermione said, raising an eyebrow at Draco._

'_Right,' Draco said slowly, 'I'll put a protective charm around the doors.'_

The rest of the second floor consisted of Scorpius's room which was slightly larger than Rose's and decorated in red and blue with Quidditch icons everywhere, a potions lab, a potions storage cupboard, 3 spare bedrooms, 2 bathrooms, and Draco's own gym. The last room they came too was Draco's and would soon be Hermione's.

'_This room will be our room,' Draco said as he opened the door, 'for the duration of your stay at the Manor that is.'_

_Hermione smiled, feeling slightly less nervous now. She gasped as she walked into the room, it was about the same size as her living room had been and she was surprised at the décor. The walls were a pale green and the carpet was a dark brown, the curtains and bedcovers matched the carpet and it actually looked very classy._

'_I see a theme of green throughout certain rooms in this house,' Hermione teased with a chuckle._

'_Believe it or not I just like the colour,' Draco admitted with a smile, 'do you want to see the bonuses of living in a manor?'_

'_Sure,' Hermione said, she didn't often see Draco excited, it just wasn't who he was. But now he was smiling and about as excited as Draco Malfoy got, and Hermione found it refreshing._

'_This is the walk in wardrobe,' Draco said, showing her a room twice the size of a broom cupboard._

'_Wow,' was all Hermione could say._

'_And this,' Draco said as he pulled open another door, 'is our ensuite bathroom.'_

'_Seriously?' Hermione asked as she looked inside at the grand, large bathroom._

'_It gets better,' Draco grinned, 'this is our balcony,' he opened glass doors and showed Hermione the balcony which just had enough room for a small table and two chairs. It looked out over the countryside and the hills._

'_It's beautiful,' Hermione admitted, and despite the nerves and her fear of commitment she could really see herself living in this house even though it was the opposite of everything she had ever known. It was huge, it was grand, it was classy, it was full of secret passages and nooks and crannies, it reminded Hermione of the home she had loved, Hogwarts._

The final stop on the tour was third floor which was the smallest floor but had a large roof garden separating the East and West wings. The roof garden had a concrete surface and was currently empty, but Hermione saw potential for it. Draco told her that it had once been used as an outpost to look out for enemies when the house had first being built. In the East Wing of the third floor there was a large event hall with a stage that had a reception room leading off of it and there was also a large bedroom. In the West Wing of the third floor there was a greenhouse with a glass roof and a Herbology research laboratory leading off of it. Hermione had learnt so much about Draco on this tour, he talked to her about his Grandfather and how he had a keen interest in Herbology and its uses when mixed with potion brewing. There was also a final bathroom on this topmost floor.

When the tour was over Scorpius and Rose went to play up in Scorpius's bedroom, leaving Draco and Hermione alone together for the first time in a week or so. They made their way back downstairs to the informal dining room where they sat down to have a quiet cup of coffee together, only that wasn't how things happened. They had been sitting down for 5 minutes when Hermione saw out of the corner of her eye a man walk past the door and out of the Manor.

'Who was that?' Hermione asked Draco curiously, 'it looked like Seamus.'

Draco sighed, he couldn't keep the truth from Hermione anymore, 'it was,' he said.

'Why was he here?' Hermione asked in surprise.

'He's my Head of Security,' Draco admitted.

Hermione's eyebrows shot up at this, 'You have a Head of Security?'

'Why does that surprise you so much?' Draco asked with a smirk, 'I have a lot of people on my payroll Hermione.'

'Like who?' Hermione asked, vaguely amused by the complete contrast between Draco's life and her own.

'Informants, reporters, photographers, politicians…' Draco said, ticking them off on his fingers, 'to name a few.'

Hermione shook her head in amused disbelief, 'Wow, you really are a millionaire asshole.'

'More millionaire than asshole I like to think,' Draco said with a smirk, forgetting for a moment that he needed to tell Hermione about the investigation and Pansy.

Hermione smiled, 'so what was he doing here?'

Draco sighed, 'I lied to you Hermione. I paid him to investigate the reporter who took those photos of us. He traced the reporter back to Pansy, and I found out the night she attacked you, that's how I got there in time.'

Hermione was stunned at this news, 'you were investigating it all along and you never told me.'

'I was trying to protect you,' Draco said honestly.

'I don't need your protection Draco, I didn't need it in the war and I sure as hell don't need it now,' Hermione said in an angry undertone.

'Maybe you didn't need it Hermione, but I wanted to protect you,' Draco said with a sigh, 'I never exactly got to do much of it when we were at school.'

'Through no fault but your own,' Hermione muttered angrily.

'Look I know I wasn't the hero in school,' Draco said bitterly, 'that was always Potter! But you don't need to remind me of my sins every time we fight, my nightmares keep me aware of them without being reminded.'

Hermione was silent after that for a moment, 'You still have nightmares about the war too?'

Draco merely nodded.

'I thought I was the only one,' Hermione admitted with a sigh.

'No,' Draco said softly, 'I still have recurring nightmares about the people who died because of me.'

They were both silent momentarily, although the air wasn't entirely awkward.

'We're a morbid pair aren't we?' Hermione asked with a bitter chuckle.

'We've been through a war,' Draco said seriously, 'we aren't going to be perfect.'

'It doesn't affect everyone this way,' Hermione mused.

'No, Potter seems to have come away perfectly fine,' Draco said, again with a touch of bitterness.

'Harry can't get to bed without a glass of firewhiskey most nights,' Hermione said in an undertone, 'and Ron couldn't cope with living in the country his brother had died in, I think that was what drove him away…' she trailed off, 'Ginny's so protective of her kids she smothers them because of what happened in the war,' she sighed deeply, 'nobody came away untouched.'

'I'm sorry,' Draco said honestly, unable to meet Hermione's eye because in some way he felt guilty for the suffering of her friends, 'I didn't realise.'

'Don't apologise, you couldn't have known,' Hermione said, 'but if you ever repeat anything I just told you I'll curse you into oblivion.'

Draco smiled slightly and said, 'it won't leave this room.'

Hermione nodded, smiling back.

'Hermione?'

'Yeah?' Hermione said as Draco put a cup of coffee down in front of her.

'Thanks for accepting my offer to stay here, and not at Grimmauld Place,' Draco said genuinely.

'You're welcome,' Hermione said with a soft smile, 'I'm starting to realise it was the right decision to make.'

At this Draco grinned, and Hermione felt her fear of being hurt ebb away. More and more since the fire she was realising that she needed to live her life while she could and that worrying about what could happen would only make her miserable.

_**TBC :)  
**_

_**A/N: Hopefully this is getting updated regularly enough! I'm really enjoying writing it at the moment so hopefully updates should continue to be fairly frequent :)  
**_


	11. New Starts

**The War is Over**

**Chapter 11 - New Starts**

'Are you ready?'

Hermione nodded, her stomach churned as she looked at the wreck that had once been her flat. There was no front door and the area was cordoned off with police tape. The Muggle police were letting her in only briefly so she could take what she wanted from the flat and then it would have to be examined by a structural engineer to make sure the flat above wasn't going to collapse in on it.

Draco slipped his hand into hers as they crossed the yellow tape and walked across the rubble into what had once been the hallway. Hermione swallowed a lump in her throat as she looked at the large puddle of dried blood on the floor by the utilities cupboard.

She had only moved into the Manor yesterday and despite Harry and Draco both saying she needed to rest Hermione knew she needed to do this first. The hallway was filled with rubble and ash, but Hermione didn't keep anything of importance there anyway.

She pushed the bathroom door open, it was hanging off of its hinges and nearly fell off completely at being opened. The bathroom was charred and covered in ash like the hallway, but again Hermione could replace the things she had kept in the bathroom cupboard, things like potions and medicines.

'Anything in here you want to try to salvage?' Draco asked.

Hermione shook her head and silently walked from the room. Directly ahead was the kitchen, to the left was the door to living room (although the kitchen had two doors and acted as a through way between the hallway and living room). To the right were the doors to Hermione and Rose's bedroom. It seemed that the most badly affected area was the left hand side of the house.

'I'll clear Rose's room first,' Hermione said, her voice harsh with emotion. Draco nodded and pushed open the door to Rose's room. It hadn't been attacked by the fire but still had the scent of smoke, everything taken from here would need to be cleaned or washed.

Hermione sighed as she sat down on the floor and opened one of the cardboard boxes she had brought with her, she cheated by putting reducing charms on everything to fit more into the boxes. Draco watched her sadly as she picked up all of Rose's cuddly toys and boxed them up.

'Have you always lived here?' Draco asked as he sat down next to her on the floor and helped her with Rose's toys, she had so many toys of different creatures. There were about 10 different coloured dragons.

Hermione shook her head, 'Not always,' she said, 'but for around the last 4 years.'

'So you moved in here after Weasley left?' Draco asked, he didn't want to intrude but he was curious.

Hermione nodded once more, 'Rose will be 6 in May, we moved into this flat when she was 2.'

They were quiet for a moment as they finished boxing up the toys. Hermione then opened Rose's large built-in wardrobe and began packing up all of her daughter's clothes and shoes, again using reducing charms.

'Can I help?' Draco asked.

'You can pack up all of her toys,' Hermione said, as she summoned the toys from underneath the bed and pulled two boxes of toys down from the top of the wardrobe.

'You have one spoiled daughter,' Draco said with a chuckle as he began to pack the toys up.

'Blame Harry and Ginny,' Hermione remarked with a slight smile. Draco understood that this was hard for her and he felt incredibly guilty because he still felt like the attack had been his fault.

'This is lovely,' Draco said as he carefully packed away wooden figurines from a dollhouse.

Hermione smiled at the dollhouse, 'my Father made it for Rose for her 2nd birthday,' she said, 'the people in it are our family, me and Rose, Harry and Ginny.'

'So Potter really is like family?' Draco asked, it was something he had always been curious about.

Hermione nodded, lost in her thoughts, 'he is now,' she said.

'So there was something between you before? At school?' Draco asked, he had always wondered when he had watched Hermione from afar during their school days.

'Not at school,' Hermione said as he went back to clearing the wardrobe of Rose's many shoes, 'but in the war, yes.'

'Can I ask for details or is it something you'd rather not talk about?' Draco asked sheepishly, 'I'm nosy.'

'I've noticed,' Hermione said with a smile as she finished with the wardrobe.

'Slytherin trait, sorry,' Draco said with a smirk, he didn't sound very apologetic.

Hermione chuckled and sat down on Rose's bed, 'I had a slight crush on Harry when we were at Hogwarts together, something that was probably pretty obvious.'

'Not all of the time,' Draco admitted, 'in fourth year though…well you didn't exactly try to hide it.'

Hermione laughed, 'Harry never realised, he was oblivious to the whole thing. Either way things changed during the war. I don't think you really know what we did, and I can't tell you, it's Harry story to tell, not mine…' Hermione trailed off thoughtfully.

'All I know is you spent the whole year on the run,' Draco said honestly, 'and then you got caught, brought to my Manor, escaped and turned up later at Hogwarts to defeat Voldemort.'

'Well when we spent the year on the run it was hard, especially for Ron who couldn't cope with living rough and never having enough to eat. He couldn't take it so he just up and left,' Hermione said, sighing deeply.

'He has a tendency to do that,' Draco said and Hermione was surprised to hear angry undertones.

'Well Harry and I were on our own after that and we got closer,' Hermione said, she leant against the wall and shut her eyes, 'we danced one night in the tent we were staying in and kissed…I don't know what we thought it was, but it kept us going I suppose.'

'And after the war?' Draco asked.

'After the war Harry and Ginny got back together, you already know the story about James being conceived,' Hermione said as she pushed herself to her feet, 'and Ron came back and I forgave him, or at least pretended too. The rest is history.'

'You know Hermione, I always thought you three had the perfect life,' Draco admitted, 'I thought I was the poor little Slytherin who got all of the crap, but you never had it easy.'

'No, I didn't,' Hermione admitted, she leant down to where Draco was sitting on the floor and kissed him on the cheek, 'but I'm happy now, and 4 years ago I never thought I'd have that.'

Draco smiled slightly at this, but couldn't say anything more because Hermione changed the subject, 'what do we do with the furniture?' she asked as she looked around the room.

'We'll just pop a couple of reducing charms on it and box it up,' Draco said as he looked around at the furniture they had to reduce.

'I'll do this side,' he said as he moved to the left side of the room. 10 minutes later they had packed up the furniture as well as the other bits and bobs lying around the room. Things like Rose's bed, chest of drawers, bedside table, her broomstick, her potions kit, her big pink fluffy beanbag and her bright pink armchair.

'I think we're done,' Hermione said as she packed Rose's night light, although it wouldn't do much good because the Manor didn't have electricity.

'Where next?' Draco asked.

'My bedroom,' Hermione said with a sigh.

'I'll apparate back to the manor with the things from this room and come back to help when I'm done,' Draco said as he lifted as much boxes as he could.

'Alright I'll start boxing things up in my room,' Hermione said with a sad smile as she moved into her bedroom. Like Rose's it had been saved from the fire but had a resounding smoky smell that wouldn't go away without a few washes. Hermione sighed, she didn't know what to do with her bed, after all there was already one in Draco's room but she had to clear this flat of everything she owned. She decided to shrink it and store it somewhere, this along with her bedding was the first thing she did. Then she opened up her wardrobe and started packing her clothes away which took longer than she thought, she even packed away the box of clothes she didn't wear because of complicated reasons to do with her ex-Husband.

By the time Draco returned Hermione had just finished emptying her chest of drawers and was about to shrink it.

'That's Rose's stuff all in her new room in the Manor,' Draco said as he sat down heavily on the sofa in Hermione's room, 'you seem to be making good progress.'

'Nearly done,' Hermione said as she packed her shrunken chest of drawers. Draco then got up from the sofa and packed it, leaving only a few pieces of furniture to be packed and the photographs on the bedside tables.

'I'll put these in my bag,' Hermione said, she wanted to be careful with them. Draco smiled as he passed her the photographs, there were three. The first was of Hermione holding Rose when she was a tiny baby, the second was of Harry and Hermione at some kind of ball and the third looked like a fairly recent photo of Rose and Hermione who were both waving at the camera.

'At least those survived the fire,' Draco said as he packed the remainder of the things in the bedroom while Hermione packed things from her ensuite bathroom.

They made their way into the kitchen after that which had been pretty badly affected by the fire so there wasn't much there that was actually salvageable. They then walked through into the living room which was the room Hermione had been dreading and hence why she had left it to be the last room.

Draco again took Hermione's hand as they looked around the wreck. The entire left side of the room was ruined and anything in it was gone including Hermione's bookshelf with all of her books on it.

Hermione sighed, 'My books are gone, and so are some of my pictures…' she walked around the room, collecting the things that were important to her and packing them, things like Rose's awards and the photographs that did survive. When they were done they shrunk all of the furniture that hadn't been damaged by the fire and activated the fireplace. They had roped Theo in to take boxes on the other side, and watch both the kids at the Manor.

By the time they were done Hermione felt exhausted despite the fact that the entire clear out had only taken a couple of hours.

'Do you want to look around the place one last time?' Draco asked.

Hermione shook her head, 'I don't want to make this worse for myself,' she said simply as she walked into the active fire.

* * *

'Hermione, you need to control your daughter.'

'What's she done this time?' Hermione asked Theo in amusement. The Slytherin was leaning against the wall in the living room as Hermione emerged from the fire. She got on well with Draco's best friend, he reminded her of Harry in some ways.

'Apparently Potter bought her a potions book,' Theo said with a raised eyebrow, 'she nearly blew up Scorp's bedroom.'

'I told Harry that book was too old for her,' Hermione muttered, adding, 'sorry Theo.'

'Don't worry, I know what Scorp's like, there are protective charms everywhere in his room, neither of them were hurt,' Theo said, surveying Hermione with interest, 'do you want to go out for a drink tonight?'

Hermione frowned, 'are you asking me out?'

'No,' Theo chuckled, 'I know I'm a Slytherin but I'm not that bad, you're my Godsons Fathers girlfriend.'

'Right,' Hermione said with a chuckle.

'I just have a couple of things I need to tell you about Draco,' Theo admitted with a smile.

'Sure,' Hermione said, she wanted to get to know Draco's friends, she wasn't sure if Draco would make the same effort to get to know her friends however.

'See you tonight, 7pm at Nott Manor,' Theo said with a smile as he walked towards the front door, leaving Hermione slightly bemused.

The floo whirred and Draco walked out, he smirked when he saw Hermione staring at Theo's back as he walked away.

'Did he just ask you out?' Draco asked with a smirk,

'Uh, sort of. He wants me to have a drink with him tonight at his Manor,' Hermione said, still slightly confused as she turned to Draco.

'Don't worry, he'd never try anything with you,' Draco said as he sat down on the sofa, 'he does have some morals.'

Hermione laughed, 'some?'

'Rather a lot actually, for a Slytherin,' Draco said with a smile.

'Well I think I might go,' Hermione said playfully, 'I want to hear all his cute stories about you.'

'We have known each other for about 20 years, Merlin knows what he'll tell you,' Draco said, shaking his head at the thought.

'I can't wait,' Hermione said with a grin.

* * *

Later that evening Draco and Hermione had packed away anything that wouldn't be getting used and had restored Rose's new room so it looked as similar to her old one as possible. She seemed happy with it and before she knew it, it was time for Hermione to leave for Nott Manor.

Draco and Theo were closer than Hermione had first thought, from the balcony in their bedroom Hermione could actually see Nott Manor, it was nestled away in a valley, probably to keep away Muggles.

Hermione had just decided to walk, so dressed in a pair of sensible shoes, a coat, jeans and a t-shirt she left the house and walked the short distance to Nott Manor. When she arrived at the gates and got her first proper view of the place she wasn't surprised to find that it was as grand as Malfoy Manor, although slightly smaller.

Hermione walked through the wrought iron gates with the words 'NOTT MANOR' emblazoned in capital letters and walked up the path towards the front door. The manor was 4 stories high but probably had a basement like Malfoy Manor did, it had more of a country manor feeling too it than Malfoy Manor which was so large and grand that it was imposing.

Hermione felt slightly nervous as she knocked on the front door of the Manor. It swung open of its own accord and a house elf appeared with a crack that made Hermione jump.

'Welcome Miss. Granger,' the house elf said as it bowed, 'Master Nott is waiting for you.'

Hermione smiled and followed the house elf inside. The entrance hall was large with lots of marble which didn't surprise Hermione. She followed the house elf into a door to the left which led into a sitting room where Theo was sitting holding a glass of wine. The layout seemed very similar to Malfoy Manor.

'Ah Hermione,' Theo said with a smile when she walked in, 'sit down.'

Hermione sat down next to Theo on the sofa and said, 'nice house.'

'A smaller version of your new home,' Theo admitted, confirming Hermione's theory.

'I thought I saw similarities,' Hermione said with a smile.

'White, rose or red?' Theo asked as he gestured to the many wine bottles in a nearby cabinet.

'Rose please,' Hermione said, accepting the glass of wine that Theo poured her.

'So, what did you want to talk to me about?' Hermione asked.

'Straight to the point,' Theo chuckled.

'Sorry, a Gryffindor trait,' she admitted.

'Yes, you Gryffindors aren't exactly subtle,' Theo remarked.

'Did you really only ask me here to take the piss out of me for being in Gryffindor?' Hermione asked with a raised eyebrow.

'Ooh, the Gryffindor swears,' Theo smirked.

'Gryffindors aren't all sweetness and light, trust me,' Hermione said through her laughter.

'Trust me, Slytherins have more fun, Theo grinned, 'which brings it back to the reason you're here.'

'Draco,' Hermione said with a smirk, 'how long have you two known each other?'

'Since we were Scorp's age,' Theo said with a grin, 'you've seen how close we live to each other. We've always been pretty close.'

'That's sweet,' Hermione said with a smile.

Theo shrugged and appeared thoughtful for a moment, 'You know Draco always said one day he'd ask you out, but I never thought he would.'

'He said that?' Hermione asked in surprise.

Theo nodded, 'You didn't know? He always liked you when we were at Hogwarts, but his parents wouldn't have approved and it only worsened the blow that you were best friends with Potter.'

'I never realised,' Hermione admitted, 'I thought he genuinely hated me.'

'Nah,' Theo said, smiling as he shook his head, 'he could never decide if you infuriated him or intoxicated him.'

'_Oi Draco, snap out of it.'_

_Draco looked over at his best friend. They were in the Slytherin dormitories after the Yule Ball, Crabbe, Goyle and Blaise were already asleep._

'_What?' Draco asked irritably._

'_You were daydreaming about Granger again,' Theo teased._

_Draco groaned, 'I don't understand that girl!' he admitted as he pushed himself to his feet, 'one minute she's this annoying, geeky know-it-all and then the next she's…'_

'_She's what?' Theo asked with a smirk, 'the love of your life?'_

'_Shut up Theo,' Draco said as he absentmindedly threw a pillow at his friend, 'she looked amazing tonight.'_

'_What?' Theo asked in mock surprise, 'you didn't enjoy your night with Pansy?'_

'_Ugh,' Draco groaned as he fell back onto his bed, 'remind me why I came to the ball with Pansy again.'_

'_Daphne wouldn't go with you, Tracey was going with Blaise, Sophie hates you and you about pissed yourself when I tried to make you ask Granger in Potions,' Theo said nonchalantly._

'_Shut up Theo, I didn't decide not to ask her because I was afraid, I didn't ask her because of what my parents would say,' Draco said with a sigh._

'_When are you going to realise that your parents aren't always right?' Theo asked with a raised eyebrow, 'you can't always do everything they ask.'_

'_I know,' Draco sighed, 'and when I'm finally out of their grasp I'll ask her out, I'll do it.'_

'_Yeah right,' Theo snorted, 'you'll get as far as 'Granger' then you'll insult her instead, that's how it usually works.'_

'_I'm not kiddin' Theo, I'll ask her one day,' Draco said, determination glinting in his eyes._

'_Alright, let's make this interesting. I bet 20 galleons you'll never ask her,' Theo said in amusement._

'_I will, and when I win the bet I won't take your money,' Draco said with a smirk._

'So if he liked me in school why did he never do anything about it?' Hermione asked curiously, pulling Theo out of his memories.

'He was always too afraid of the backlash from his parents,' Theo admitted, 'he swore one day when he was free of them he'd ask you out, but then the war happened.'

'Yeah it kind of threw everything off track,' Hermione said with a sigh as she sipped her wine, she hated thinking about the war.

'He wanted to help you,' Theo said quietly, 'he'll never tell you himself Hermione, he feels too guilty about it…but when you were being tortured in Malfoy Manor all he wanted to do was help you.'

'He couldn't have,' Hermione said reasonably, 'he was outnumbered, he would have been killed if he had tried anything.'

'He was so close, and his Father saw that and grabbed him to hold him back,' Theo admitted, 'there was always something about you that drew him in, even if it was from a distance he cared about you.'

'Thank you Theo,' Hermione said with a smile, 'it's nice to hear about the softer side of Draco. I don't see it very often.'

'Part of that's down to the war,' Theo said as he drank from his wine glass, 'do you blame him for anything that happened?'

Hermione shook her head, 'I see something that Harry and my other friends can't,' she admitted, 'to me he's as much a victim of the war as I was. Dumbledore once called Voldemort the boy who made all the wrong choices, the way I see it Draco never had a choice.'

'He didn't,' Theo agreed, 'his only choice was to join the Death Eaters or die, kill Dumbledore or die himself,' he sighed, 'maybe he can be seen as selfish because he didn't sacrifice himself but that's why he's a Slytherin, not a Gryffindor.'

'I don't think he's selfish, I think he was a terrified teenage boy,' Hermione said thoughtfully, 'we were all so young and naïve before the war. I think it opened up our eyes, it made us grow up too young.'

'I think you're right,' Theo said, 'a lot of people married and had kids young from the war, like you and Draco.'

'Have you ever been married?' Hermione asked Theo curiously.

The former Slytherin snorted and shook his head, 'Nah, I got my heart broken about 6 years ago, it put me off love for a lifetime.'

'Is that why you're a…' Hermione trailed off, blushing slightly.

Theo merely grinned, 'It's nice how innocent you are sometimes Hermione, I think Draco likes that in you. And yes, that's why I'm a playboy,' he winked at her and her blush deepened.

'Theo, can I ask you a question about Draco?' Hermione asked thoughtfully.

'Sure,' Theo said simply.

'In the war… that year at Hogwarts when Snape was alive, did he participate in all the violence that happened to my friends?' Hermione asked, she forgave Draco for the final battle, she forgave him for his treatment towards her, but she didn't know what had happened during that year and it was a lingering doubt in her head.

'No,' Theo said honestly, 'it was the opposite in fact. Draco helped out those fighting for the light when they got themselves captured and beaten up. They couldn't go to the Hospital Wing because it was monitored by the Carrows. Draco was always pretty nifty with healing spells so he struck up a deal with Longbottom, whenever someone was injured he went to their hide out and healed them. That's how he decided he wanted to go into medicine, he was healing people in the middle of the final battle as they were bleeding out. Those Aurors all got Orders of Merlin but he didn't even get a line in the paper and I'll bet he saved as much people as they did.'

'Wow,' Hermione said, completely amazed, 'I never knew that.'

'Not many people do,' Theo said with a smile, 'you'd never believe it but Draco's pretty modest.'

'You're right, I wouldn't have believed that,' Hermione said with a chuckle as she finished her glass of wine and glanced at the time, 'I ought to go, I promised Rose I'd be back in time to read her a bedtime story.'

'Sure,' Theo said as he got to his feet and helped Hermione up.

'Thanks for the drink,' Hermione said as Theo walked her to the door.

'No problem,' Theo said when they reached the door, 'just so you know Hermione, Draco hasn't been this happy since Astoria was alive.'

Hermione smiled, she liked to think that she made Draco happy but hearing it straight from his best friend was nice, 'Thanks Theo.'

* * *

'What did he tell you?' Draco asked when he and Hermione got a moment alone after putting the kids to bed.

'Oh, nothing,' Hermione said with a grin.

'Oh come on, tell me,' Draco said as he handed her a glass of her favourite wine.

'Are you bribing me with wine?' Hermione asked as she sat down on the sofa in the sitting room.

'Maybe,' Draco said with a smirk as he sat down next to her, 'so what did you talk about?'

'You,' Hermione said honestly.

'Are you going to be any more specific than that?' Draco asked as he raised his eyebrows at Hermione.

Hermione smiled, she didn't want to tell Draco everything that she and Theo had talked about, 'he just told me about how you healed people during the war, and he told me that you're happy, with me.'

'That's one of the things I love about Theo,' Draco admitted with a small smile, 'he has this knack of telling people what I really want to say but can't.'

'I think everyone needs somebody like that,' Hermione said with a smile, 'I guess that's what Harry is to me sometimes.'

'Yeah,' Draco said thoughtfully as he took Hermione's hand, 'I don't think we'd ever have gotten this far without Potter.'

'Are you ever going to call him Harry?' Hermione asked, a mixture of amused and exasperated.

'Give it a year, or two, then maybe,' Draco said with a smirk.

* * *

'Have you seen the paper yet?' Hermione asked Draco with a sigh the moment he walked into the kitchen on Friday morning.

'I've been awake for 10 minutes,' Draco said with raised eyebrows as he sat down at the breakfast bar in the kitchen.

Hermione handed Draco the paper, clearly being careful of what she was saying because Rose and Scorpius were sitting having breakfast.

Draco glanced down at the paper and instantly lost his appetite. There was a picture of Pansy on the front page being led in chains to Azkaban, she looked manic, the picture emphasised the fact she was slightly insane. The headline was in large block capital letters as usual.

'_**WIFE OF SENIOR AUROR IMPRISONED FOR ATTEMPTED MURDER'**_

'The fall outs going to be bad for Blaise,' Draco mumbled, feeling guilty.

'Read the article,' Hermione said.

'_Pansy Zabini sentenced to 25 years in Azkaban,' _the sub-heading read, _'Mrs. Zabini, wife of Senior Auror and former Slytherin Blaise Zabini, was this week found guilty of the attempted murder of former Deputy Minister for Magic, Hermione Granger. Mrs. Zabini was found to have entered the former Deputy Ministers London flat and sabotaged the property in order to make the subsequent fire seem accidental. Arson and breaking and entering were added to the wife of the senior Aurors charges, subjecting her to a further 5 years in Azkaban on top of the 20 she received for attempted murder. When questioned Senior Auror Zabini said that he found his wife's behaviour deplorable and unforgivable. He also stated that he fully supported the sentence given and had applied for an annulment of the marriage contract. _

_Miss. Granger was unavailable for comment on the events that transpired at her London flat, but was seen leaving St. Mungo's with her new partner Senior Healer, and ex Death Eater, Draco Malfoy. While it has been suggested by some that the former Death Eater Mr. Malfoy may have been involved in the plot this has been disproven after a statement was given by Senior Auror, and war hero, Harry Potter. _

'_We have irrefutable evidence proving that Mrs. Zabini was the culprit in this attempt on Miss. Grangers life. There is no evidence to support the argument that Senior Healer Malfoy played any part in this attack. On the contrary he aided our investigation and was the reason for our breakthrough in the case. He also saved Miss. Grangers life by arriving at the property in time and calling for appropriate aid.'_

_This was an entirely isolated incident, and the culprit is suffering from the consequences of her actions and will be doing so for the foreseeable future.'_

'That wasn't as bad as it could have been,' Draco admitted honestly when he finished reading the article, 'I must thank Potter at some point for putting a good word in.'

'I'm sure he'd appreciate that,' Hermione said with a chuckle, 'Rose, Scorpius, hurry up and finish breakfast.'

'I'm finished Mummy,' Rose said and Scorpius stuck his tongue out at her.

Hermione rolled her eyes and turned back to Draco who said, 'I'm glad Rose wasn't mentioned.'

'As am I,' Hermione admitted.

'Why are you smirking?' Draco asked with a slight frown.

'Now, now Draco,' Hermione said, still smirking, 'you don't think you're the only millionaire with reporters on their payroll, do you?'

Draco's jaw dropped open at this, 'Are you saying what I think you're saying?'

Hermione grinned and leant forward across the bar, she whispered to him, 'I was the Deputy Minister for Magic for 4 years, that's pretty good pay.'

'Uh-huh,' Draco said with a smirk, 'are you telling me that you paid off the reporter?'

'Maybe,' Hermione said, still smirking, 'I have contacts at the Daily Prophet after all.'

Draco grinned at this and whispered, 'I find it hot, how Slytherin you can be sometimes.'

Hermione smiled smugly and leant back, eying Draco with amusement, 'I learnt from the best.'

Draco smiled, 'Impressive considering the fact we haven't known each other that long.'

'Who said I was talking about you?' Hermione asked playfully as she got to her feet.

Draco's smirk dropped, and Hermione grinned, 'Harry's much more Slytherin than you'd think.'

On this bombshell Hermione said, 'Rose, Scorp, it's time to leave for your tutoring.'

'Bye Draco, have a good day,' Hermione said, still grinning in amusement as she kissed him on the cheek and left with the kids.

* * *

'Do you happen to have any of that firewhiskey stash left?'

Theo grinned as his best friend walked into the study in his Manor, Draco had a habit of letting himself in, but it didn't particularly bother Theo, 'I have one bottle left, I was saving it for a special occasion.'

Draco sighed as he sank into one of the comfortable seats near Theo's desk.

'I thought you stopped drinking the stuff after that…incident,' Theo said with a frown as he joined Draco in the comfortable armchairs by the fire.

'I did, and I haven't had a craving for it in 3 years, until now,' Draco said, letting his head fall into his hands.

'What's up?' Theo asked.

'I realised when the attack happened that I'm in love with Hermione,' Draco admitted, feeling embarrassed.

'Already?' Theo asked in a surprise, 'although I suppose you did have a huge crush on her for 7 years.'

'Trust me it shocked me too,' Draco said as he stared into the fire, 'it just sort of bubbled up out of nowhere.'

'Did you tell Hermione?' Theo asked, pouring out a glass of firewhiskey and handing it to Draco.

'No,' Draco said as he accepted the glass, although he didn't drink from it straight away.

'Any particular reason why not?'

'I don't think she's ready to hear it yet,' Draco said truthfully, 'I don't think I'm ready to say it to her either.'

'And you still feel guilty, about what happened to her flat,' Theo said, reading his best friends mind.

'Yeah,' Draco said as he sighed deeply, 'she could have died Theo and that's all on me.'

'Stop acting like such a Gryffindor,' Theo snorted, 'grow up, you need to realise that you can't change everything, its Potters job to think like that.'

'Since when do you know so much about Potter?' Draco asked with a raised eyebrow.

'He likes to drink at the Hogs Head, and he makes for interesting drunk conversation,' Theo said with a smirk.

Draco shook his head, laughing as he said, 'I'd love to see that.'

'Anyway, what did you actually come here to talk about?' Theo asked as Draco contemplated taking a sip of firewhiskey.

'I think it's my fault Pansy's in Azkaban,' Draco admitted with a sigh, 'I feel like I kind of led her on at school, which in part was to get Hermione to notice me and feel jealous, which never worked anyway.'

'Well she noticed you,' Theo pointed out, 'just not in a good way.'

Draco rolled his eyes, 'the point is I feel responsible. If I hadn't led her on she wouldn't have been so obsessive with me and Hermione would never have got hurt.'

'Draco we seriously need to talk,' Theo said as he sat down on the edge of the armchair Draco was sitting on, 'to start with, Pansy was obsessive about you from day one, and there was nothing you could do to stop her being that way.'

'Whats the other thing?' Draco asked.

'You need to stop developing this hero complex, you're starting to sound like Potter,' Theo said with a smirk.

'Hey I'm not the skinny dark haired runt,' Draco joked, 'with some glasses and a scar you could be his twin.'

'That's a good idea for Halloween,' Theo mused as he sat back down in his own armchair.

Draco smiled slightly, Theo always cheered him up.

'Are you going to drink that firewhiskey or not?' Theo asked, eyeing up the glass that Draco had brought to his lips several times, he hadn't drunk a sip yet however.

'I promised myself I wouldn't after…' Draco trailed off and Theo grinned with amusement, 'whats wrong Draco? Are you worried you're going to get drunk and jump me?' he teased.

Draco rolled his eyes and looked down to the glass, his firewhiskey days had been over 3 years ago when Astoria died…

'_Wow, someone's fallen from grace.'_

_Draco Malfoy looked up from the bottom of his empty glass of firewhiskey and squinted through his drunken haze._

'_Longbottom,' he said, recognising the man who hadn't changed much in the 4 years since he had last seen him during the war._

'_I'm Longbottom now?' Neville asked in amusement, 'I was Neville during the war.'_

_Draco merely shrugged and said, 'things were different in the war.'_

'_Clearly,' Neville said as he sat down next to Draco in the empty bar, 'you weren't a drunken mess then.'_

'_I would have been if there had been any firewhiskey,' Draco said roughly._

'_I take it this started after the Diagon Alley attack,' Neville said, prodding gently._

'_Just say it Longbottom,' Draco hissed, 'nobody ever does, all they do is beat around the bush.'_

'_Alright,' Neville said, surveying Draco, 'I take it this started after your wife died.'_

'_What do you think?' Draco asked in an angry undertone._

'_I'll take that as a yes,' Neville mumbled, 'I don't suppose I can do anything to help?'_

'_Buy me a drink,' Draco snorted._

'_I think you've had enough,' Neville said, taking in Draco's scruffy appearance, he had always been clean-shaven at school but had stubble now, his hair was also longer than it had been during their Hogwarts days._

'_I've never had enough,' Draco said with a groan. _

'_You don't want to do this, do you?' Neville asked him as he cocked his head at Draco._

'_Do what? Sit in a bar all night alone?' Draco asked bitterly, 'yeah you're right, I don't want to do it, but what else can I do?'_

'_Be there for your son?' Neville suggested._

'_He doesn't need me,' Draco said bitterly, 'my Mother can take better care of him than me, I'm just a washed up ex Death Eater, I'm as bad a Father to my son as my Father was to me.'_

'_Did your Father spend his nights out getting drunk when you were a kid?' Neville asked with a snort._

'_No, my Father had more taste than that,' Draco said bitterly, 'he spent his nights out screwing a different person every night.'_

_Neville raised an eyebrow at Draco, 'and is __**that **__how you want to spend your nights?' he asked somewhat suggestively._

'I'm not drinking it,' Draco said, swallowing a lump in his throat at the memory he was reliving, 'take it.'

Theo laughed hysterically as he accepted the glass from Draco, 'I still can't believe you snogged Longbottom.'

'Neither can I,' Draco said as he wrinkled his nose, 'and for the record if you _ever _tell Hermione that I'll kill you.'

'My lips are sealed,' Theo said as he sniggered, 'sure you don't want just one sip?'

'Stop being an ass,' Draco said, vaguely amused at his best friend, 'do you want me to bring up that time you 'accidentally' saw Potter naked?'

'That _was_ an accident,' Theo said defensively, 'how was I meant to know the idiot would forget to lock the door to the prefect's bathroom?'

Draco shook his head in amused and sniggered, he felt better than he had all week after his chat with Theo, he should have done it much sooner.

* * *

Hermione generally found settling into Malfoy Manor fairly easy. It was strange for her to be the 'carer' as it were. Now that she was in-between jobs she and Draco had decided it made sense for her to stay at the Manor and watch Rose and Scorpius. Their lives fitted together quite nicely, although they had different tutors so Hermione had to drop Rose off 10 minutes early to get Scorpius to his tutor on time. Both children went to their tutor 4 days out of 5 so Hermione found herself with a ton of free time which she spent mostly in the library/study. She didn't start work until September, or August officially because the staff began two weeks earlier than the students, but she had a lot to prepare such as class plans for every year and lesson plans for all of her classes.

One afternoon a couple of weeks after she had 'officially' moved into the Manor Hermione accidentally ended up snooping. Draco had locked himself up in the library for a while the night before and when Hermione ended up there the following afternoon she noticed something different.

The filing cabinets at the back of the room which Draco usually kept under lock and key were ajar slightly, it was odd because he was usually very protective of whatever was inside of them.

Hermione knew it was an invasion of Draco's privacy as she slowly approached the cabinet which had two drawers unlocked, but she had always wondered what was inside and surely a peek couldn't hurt. She glanced inside the top drawer and was surprised when she recognised the name on every single file…

Harry Potter…Ronald Weasley…Neville Longbottom…Ginny Weasley…Luna Lovegood…

Hermione gasped at the last file in the drawer, it had her own name on it. She hadn't thought there would be anything of great importance in here but she realised how wrong she was.

Now that she had seen the contents of the filing cabinet Hermione couldn't let things be. She pulled out the files and examined them, they had each person's details at the top with a picture pinned on. Then there was a section called 'Extra Information'.

In Luna's folder this section said, _'Held captive in Malfoy Manor for extended period of time. Never tortured or harmed, escaped with the help of Harry Potter and the house elf known as Dobby. Deemed mentally unstable, however not in a harmful way. Plans to travel the world and settle down in England at later point in life.'_

Underneath this were the words, _'Possible threat to Master Draco Malfoy due to captivity in his family home.'_

Hermione pulled out Ginny's file next and scanned through it, in the section about extra information there was a small paragraph, _'Fiancé of Harry Potter, sworn enemy of Master Draco Malfoy. Holds no particular personal grudges, has no direct personal or otherwise reason to harm him.'_

At the bottom the words, _'Does not pose a direct threat to Master Draco Malfoy,' _were written.

Hermione shook her head in disbelief as she grabbed Neville's file, what was this? Had Draco investigated them all to see if any of them were going to kill him? Similar to the other two files Neville's had a small paragraph under the extra information section, _'Bullied by Master Draco Malfoy during early school years. Formed a partnership with Master Malfoy during the war which aided both parties. Formed a friendship.'_

Underneath this were the words, _'Poses no threat to Master Draco Malfoy.'_

The next file was Ron's and Hermione's stomach churned when she read it, she glanced across the personal information and looked straight to the 'extra information' section, _'Emotional state volatile, holds some personal grudges towards Master Malfoy. Unable to act on these grudges independently, lacks the courage and intelligence to do so.'_

Hermione frowned as she looked to the final piece of information in Ron's file, _'Not a direct threat, however poses some danger towards Master Draco Malfoy if aided by another.'_

Hermione grew angrier as she pulled out Harry's file which had the largest 'extra information' section yet, _'Bullied by Master Draco Malfoy extensively throughout schooling. Emotionally abused by Master Malfoy, physically abused in the form of a broken nose from Master Malfoy. Humiliated in front of friends and fellow students by Master Malfoy. Held captive in an attempt to hand him over to Voldemort in the Malfoy family home.'_

Hermione gasped in shock at the final statement, _'Poses a great threat towards Master Draco Malfoy, possible assassin.'_

Biting her lip angrily Hermione looked at the last file, her own. Inside it were her details, things like her full name, her date of birth, where she had been born, information about her parents, and finally her blood status. _At least it says Muggle-born not Mudblood_, Hermione thought somewhat bitterly to herself.

Dreading what she might find there Hermione looked to the 'extra information' section, _'Bullied extensively by Master Draco Malfoy throughout schooling. Emotionally abused for blood status repetitively. Held captive in the Malfoy family home and tortured physically and emotionally by a member of that family to the extent that subject was left with physical scars and treatment for mental problems caused by torture in the aftermath of the war.'_

Hermione felt sick to her stomach at the fact Draco had investigated her so much that he knew about the doctors she had seen for the post-traumatic stress after the war. When she looked down to the bottom of the page her stomach churned even more violently at the words written there.

'_**Subject poses a great threat to Master Draco Malfoy, possible assassin.**__'_

At this Hermione dropped the file and rushed into the bathroom to throw up. She was so angry that it made her physically sick, she had thought that Draco really had changed but now she wasn't so sure.

* * *

'Hey,' Draco said cheerfully as he walked into the sitting room from the fireplace still dressed in his work clothes.

'Hey Dad,' Scorpius said casually from where he was sitting on the sofa reading. Rose didn't even notice or hear Draco because she was so absorbed in her book.

'Where's your Mum Rose?' Draco asked as he looked around the room and didn't see Hermione.

'She's upstairs in the library Draco,' Rose said, she didn't even glance away from her book.

'Alright, get ready for dinner you too, it will be soon,' Draco said as he left the sitting room and jogged up the stairs to the library. When he walked in he immediately knew that something was wrong. Hermione was sitting stiffly in a chair by his desk and there were files on his desk that hadn't been there before. He glanced at the filing cabinet behind the desk and noticed it was open, he had clearly forgotten to lock it the night before.

'Hermione,I-' Draco began, trying to dig himself out of this one.

'Draco,' Hermione said in a quiet, low, dangerous voice, '_why _do you have these files in your Manor?'

Draco floundered for a moment trying to answer her question, 'They're from a long time ago Hermione.'

'Really?' Hermione asked coldly, 'how long ago was it that you investigated my life and that of my friends? How long Draco? 5 years? 6? 7?'

'7,' Draco replied honestly, 'Hermione…the war-'

'Don't talk to me about the war!' Hermione snapped, 'it screwed us all up Draco! But then you know that because you looked into my medical history, didn't you?'

'No, I paid someone else to-'

'Shut up!' Hermione snapped angrily, 'have you got a smart arse answer for everything Draco? Can you never accept that you're wrong or are you just too much like your Father?'

Draco actually took a step back at Hermione's words, as if they had been a physical blow, 'that was low Hermione.'

'Was it?' Hermione hissed, 'or is it the truth? Is that why you're trying so hard to 'reform'? Because you know you have his genes? That eventually you're going to become _exactly _like him?'

'Shut the hell up!' Draco snapped angrily, 'I genuinely thought that after the war everyone would be happy and they would want to get rid of all the bad memories! And back then that included me!'

'Are you really that sad?' Hermione asked, shaking her head in disbelief.

'Yeah, apparently so,' Draco said quietly, 'because I made a list and I got someone to check everyone out to make sure nobody was going to try and kill me.'

'Try and kill you?' Hermione asked in an angry undertone, 'Harry's the reason you were saved from Azkaban Draco!'

'What the hell do you mean?' Draco asked in that same quiet voice.

'How else do you think you kept your sorry arse out of Azkaban?' Hermione asked, 'he vouched for you, he almost sacrificed his own reputation with the Ministry to do so.'

'What? Why would he do that?' Draco asked in shocked disbelief.

'Because he's too much like Dumbledore, he thinks that everybody deserves a second chance,' Hermione said, still glaring at Draco, 'but I'm not so sure that philosophy is true at the moment.'

'I hate to pull the lonely, pathetic Slytherin card out on you Hermione,' Draco said bitterly, 'but after the war you had Harry, and Ron, and Ginny, and everyone! All I had was myself, and I was afraid.'

'I'm starting to wonder if Harry was right all along about you being a coward,' Hermione said, no longer angry but still dangerously quiet.

'I'll never be the perfect Gryffindor man Hermione, if that's what you want you'll never find that in me,' Draco admitted sadly.

'That's not what I want,' Hermione said honestly, 'I had that in Ron and if you remember that didn't exactly end happily, did it?'

'So what do you want?' Draco asked desperately, 'because all I can offer is a screwed up ex Death Eater who's made more mistakes than he can count.'

'Honestly Draco,' Hermione said with a sigh, 'all I want is the truth, and you. The real you, not the mask you hide behind.'

'You want the truth?' Draco asked with a sigh, 'there's a lot of the truth you don't know about in this Manor.'

'How so?' Hermione asked cautiously.

'There are two secret rooms in this house,' Draco admitted, 'one of them is behind my Fathers old study and even I don't know whats in there, but I think I ought to show you the other one.'

'Okay,' Hermione said slowly.

Draco held out his hand to Hermione, she looked at it for a moment and hesitated, but then she took it and walked out of the library with him. He led her down the stairs and into the entrance hall where they walked towards the picture Hermione loved so much of Hogwarts with the founders and the house crests painted at the front of the portrait.

'Don't tell me you lied about burning down this wing of the manor,' Hermione said, her voice breaking slightly.

'I didn't lie about that, I really burnt it down,' Draco said as he turned to the portrait, 'it's a door, to open it the crests have to pressed in the order of their importance. The importance of that houses values that is.'

'So Slytherin is first and Hufflepuff is last,' Hermione said with a sigh.

'Not exactly,' Draco said and Hermione watched in amazement as he reached up and pressed all four crests at once. The portrait then swung open.

'Maybe you're more mature than I thought,' Hermione said as she followed Draco into the secret part of the house which was very dark.

'There's more to me than meets the eye,' Draco said as the light came on in the room, 'it just takes time to see that.'

'What is this?' Hermione asked in a whisper as she looked around the room. The walls were covered in photographs and more were hanging from lines of rope across the ceiling.

'It's the full extent of the filing cabinet upstairs,' Draco admitted, 'its pictures of people, friends and foes, during and after the war.'

'This is full on paranoid Draco,' Hermione said with a sigh.

'I hardly visit it now Hermione, but a part of me didn't want to get rid of it for one reason,' Draco said honestly.

'And what reason is that?' Hermione asked, Draco knew he was freaking her out slightly and he also knew that what he was about to show her wouldn't help, 'that wall.'

Hermione frowned as she walked to the wall at the far end of the room which was entirely covered in photographs of her. The photographs started just after the war, photographs from Ministry Balls and press announcements after the war. Then there were photographs of her wedding to Ron, pictures of them leaving the church, and photographs of them leaving the hospital with baby Rose. They stopped around that point.

'Why?' Hermione asked, still in shock.

'They stop when I got married to Astoria,' Draco said, his voice breaking slightly, 'I wanted you Hermione, and I don't know why I tortured myself by seeing your life pan out with Weasley…but I did. I suppose it was some sort of punishment towards myself for not being able to save you that day in the Manor.'

Hermione hesitated over her emotions, 'I don't know if I should be honoured or scared Draco,' she admitted.

'Honoured would be preferable,' Draco joked weakly, 'I'm not perfect Hermione, I warned you.'

'No one is Draco,' Hermione said with a soft smile, 'it's learning to love the imperfections that matters.'

Draco frowned slightly, 'Are you saying you love me?' he asked.

'That depends,' Hermione said thoughtfully, 'would you say it back?'

'Yes, I've been wanting too since I saw you lying there in that flat dying,' Draco said honestly, his heart pounding. He hadn't felt so afraid since the war, 'I just wanted to make sure I didn't scare you away.'

'I feel the same,' Hermione admitted, taking a step forward and sealing the gap between them.

'Good,' Draco said, swallowing hard, his throat suddenly felt very dry. He leant forward and captured Hermione's lips in a soft, gentle kiss.

'MUMMY!'

'DAD!'

'Whens dinner?'

Draco and Hermione broke apart and shared amused smiles, 'Duty calls. Are we okay?'

'We're fine,' Hermione said honestly, 'but no more lies.'

'No more lies,' Draco promised, slipping his hand into Hermione's and walking out of the secret room without glancing back.

_**TBC :)  
**_

_**A/N – I'm going to write a couple of new chapters for my other ongoing story now ('Eyes Open') but I'll come back to this fic in a week, two max! **_


	12. Happy Birthday to Rose

**The War is Over**

**Chapter 12 – Happy Birthday to Rose**

Draco kept his promise and told no more lies after that rather emotional evening when Hermione saw more of his true colours.

As March became April their relationship became more and more domestic and Hermione minded less the more it happened. Rose and Scorpius grew closer, and Draco even attempted to join in with Harry and Neville's weekly poker nights. He lasted two weeks before vowing he would never go back but Hermione appreciated the effort. April flew by and Hermione found the phrase 'time flies when you're having fun' to be appropriate.

As April ended Hermione began to act rather distant which of course caused Draco to grow paranoid because he felt that she was hiding something from him. When he asked her Hermione only said she was 'fine' and made up excuses for the fact she was distant and distracted. Hermione snapped angrily at Draco when he tried to talk to her about it and as May dawned Draco gave up asking her.

Hermione's anxiety didn't improve as she and Draco planned Rose's 6th birthday party together, but after a heated argument that had ended in them both apologising the air grew less tense, yet Hermione still refused to tell Draco what had been worrying her in the past week.

The week leading up to Rose's birthday flew by and Hermione seemed less worried about whatever it was that was worrying her as she let herself get lost in planning the perfect birthday party for her daughter.

Finally it was the 14th of May, Saturday morning, and Rose's birthday.

'Happy birthday Rose!' Hermione said with a big smile as she greeted her daughter at the breakfast table.

Rose beamed and hugged her Mother, 'when does the party start Mummy?' she asked excitedly.

'In a couple of hours,' Hermione said, smiling at her daughters excitement, 'but now you get to open your presents.'

Rose's eyes widened at this and she said, 'Oh! Where are they?'

'Come here,' Hermione said, grabbing Rose to lift her into the sitting room. Draco frowned when he saw her struggling, she could usually lift Rose and it looked as if she wasn't trying at all. He wasn't sure if it was the right thing to do but he intervened by grabbing Rose and tickling her as he carried her into the sitting room where he put her down on the sofa next to a stack of presents.

Draco glanced at Hermione but she wouldn't catch his eye, instead she sat down next to Rose who eagerly started opening her presents. The stack looked fairly large but in 5 minutes it was gone and replaced by a huge bundle of wrapping paper.

Most of the presents had been from Hermione who had gotten Rose a new broomstick, some Quidditch posters, a new Quidditch strip and a set of large leather bound books. There had then been two presents from Draco which had been a new potions kit and a set of potions books to go with it. The last present had been from Scorpius who had used his pocket money to buy Rose her own miniature chess set. Rose would get her other presents later at her party.

Hermione and Draco didn't get a chance to talk after that because Hermione had to try and get Rose to eat her breakfast then she had to take her out to trial her new broomstick and by the time Rose was finished there was only half an hour until the guests started arriving so she was rushing around the garden getting the tables ready and setting everything up as Draco made sure Rose and Scorpius were dressed.

By the time they were both done they had about 5 minutes alone before people started to arrive.

'Hermione, what's wrong?' Draco asked in an undertone as Rose and Scorpius chased each other around the garden.

'Nothing,' Hermione lied, 'why?'

'I saw you earlier, you never struggle to lift Rose,' Draco said quietly.

'She's 6 now Draco, she's getting heavy,' Hermione said simply.

'There's more to it than that,' Draco said with a sigh, 'you've been distant for a few weeks…are you sick Hermione?'

'Draco, I'm fine, honestly,' Hermione said, 'leave it be, alright?'

Draco opened his mouth to say that he couldn't just let it be, that he wouldn't but these words never got a chance to come out because that was when people started arriving for the party and he and Hermione were too busy greeting people to have time to talk themselves.

Draco sighed and put on a smile as he greeted Harry and Ginny and their three kids James, Albus and Lily. The party was a fairly small one, just family and close friends.

'Hey Gin,' Hermione said, kissing her friend on the cheek, 'Hi Harry.'

'Hey Mione,' Harry said happily as James and Albus both hurried over to Rose and Scorpius, 'are you alright?'

'Yeah, I'm fine,' Hermione said quickly, 'why would you think otherwise?'

'Oh you just look pale,' Harry said with a frown, 'are you sure you aren't sick?'

'I'm fine,' Hermione said again, 'I'm just a little stressed after planning Rose's party.'

'You're stressed after this?' Harry chuckled, 'didn't you plan Ministry Balls for Kingsley?'

Hermione chuckled and said, 'I know, it's pathetic that a 6 year olds birthday has me in such a state.'

Harry smiled, seemingly convinced that Hermione was okay, he couldn't say anymore even if he wanted too because that was when Luna arrived with a fantastic suntan, and Hermione was glad because she spotted Ginny giving her suspicious looks.

'Luna!' Hermione said happily as she hugged her friend, 'you made it!'

'Of course,' Luna said with a smile, 'I would never miss Rose's birthday.'

'Some things have changed since we last saw each other,' Hermione said as she smiled at Draco who was awkwardly standing around next to her, 'this is Draco Malfoy, my boyfriend.'

Luna smiled and shook Draco's hand, 'I remember you. I think you called me Loony the Lunatic.'

'I think I probably did,' Draco said, 'and I apologise for that.'

Luna smiled and cocked her head at Draco, 'That's nice.'

'What is?' Draco asked with a frown.

'It's nice that you actually mean it,' Luna said simply as she floated over to Harry and Ginny.

Draco was still frowning as she walked away, Hermione merely smiled, 'Luna is very intuitive,' she said to her boyfriend.

'I noticed,' Draco said, he was about to open his mouth to try and speak to Hermione again but then Theo appeared with a woman on his arm that Draco recognised, but he was fairly sure that Hermione didn't know who she was.

'Ah so you've fallen for his charm then Soph?' Draco asked with a grin as he kissed the woman on the cheek. Hermione vaguely recognised her but couldn't place her. The woman was tall and slim with tanned skin and dark brown hair that reached her mid-back. She had pouty lips and dark brown eyes.

'Not quite,' the woman said with a smirk as she kissed Draco on the cheek, 'Theo told me you were dating Hermione Granger, I wanted to see for my own eyes if it was true.'

'It's true,' Draco chuckled as he put his arm around Hermione, 'Sophie meet my girlfriend Hermione Granger. Hermione, this is my friend from school Sophie Roper.'

'Friend?' Theo snorted as Hermione shook Sophie's hand, 'Nice to meet you.'

'You too,' Sophie said with a smile.

'We _were_ friends,' Draco said in amusement, 'for about a week in first year.'

'Then I realised how much of a pompous asshole you were,' Sophie said with a smirk.

'How come your still friends with Theo then?' Hermione asked with a grin.

'Oh harsh Hermione,' Theo said with a chuckle.

Hermione merely chuckled and made her way over to greet Neville as he walked into the garden.

'Hey Nev,' she said as she greeted him with a kiss on the cheek.

'Hey Hermione,' Neville said cheerfully, 'where's the birthday girl?'

'Oh she's over there with Scorp,' Hermione said with a smile as she turned to the kids.

'I never thought I'd end up at a birthday party in Malfoy Manor,' Neville remarked with amusement.

'Neither did I,' Hermione said honestly, 'but then I met Draco, again.'

'Love at second sight?' Neville teased which made Hermione laugh, 'something like that.'

'It's good to see you again,' Neville said with a smile as he made his way over to Rose. After that Hermione's parents arrived but they had visited the Manor and met Draco several times before so this wasn't a particularly new occurrence.

The last guests to arrive were the Weasley's. Hermione still got on well with the family despite Ron's disappearance, he only occasionally talked to them so they shared Hermione's pain although they hadn't exactly been ecstatic to hear about her relationship with Draco. Yet despite this everyone turned up, apart from Charlie which was to be expected since he still lived in Romania.

Molly and Arthur turned up first. The Weasley sons and their individual families followed shortly after. George came with his wife Angelina and their 3 year old son Fred. Percy came with his wife Audrey and their 5 year old twin daughters Molly and Lucy. Bill and Fleur arrived together with their 3 children, Victoire who had just turned 6 years old had been born on the one year anniversary of the final battle. Dominique was 4 years old and her younger brother Louis was a toddler who had just started walking, he was almost 2 years old.

With everyone around they all sat down for a picnic with the adults at one table and the kids at another. The picnic passed quickly and was enjoyable, then Hermione brought the cake out for Rose and she blew all of her candles out.

Draco sliced the cake up and handed it out and it was then that Ginny approached Hermione. Everyone was preoccupied in conversation as they milled around the garden eating cake.

'Hermione,' Ginny said knowingly when she reached her friend.

'What?' Hermione asked quickly.

'I know,' Ginny said simply, 'I'm a Medi-Witch who works in the Paediatrics ward, you're not fooling me.'

'Shh,' Hermione hissed, she took Ginny's arm and led her to a more secluded area of the garden, 'Ginny nobody knows.'

'Seriously? Draco hasn't figured it out?' Ginny asked in surprise, 'Hes a Senior Healer who specialises in Paediatrics.'

Hermione sighed, 'I know, but he hasn't figured it out,' she said, 'I wasn't sure myself until a couple of weeks ago, I still haven't done a test.'

'You'll need to,' Ginny said in an undertone, 'come in sometime this week.'

Hermione sighed, 'Ginny…you don't understand what this means.'

'I understand perfectly,' Ginny said quietly, 'if you are pregnant then the baby will be born out of wedlock, something I assume will be highly frowned upon by purebloods like the Malfoys.'

Hermione nodded and swallowed a lump in her throat, 'Why do you think I haven't said anything to Draco?'

'Well you're going to have to say something soon,' Ginny said logically, 'you won't be able to hide it for much longer.'

'I'm well aware of that,' Hermione sighed as she glanced down, she was wearing a loose fitting dress today so nothing really showed but when she was only wearing her underwear she could see a tiny bump.

'How did this even happen anyway?' Ginny asked with a frown.

'I don't know,' Hermione replied honestly, 'I mean we were so careful but accidents happen.'

'Was Rose an accident?' Ginny asked as she glanced to Rose whose face was currently covered in cake.

Hermione nodded, she smiled slightly as she watched Rose smear the cake on Harry, 'best mistake I've ever made.'

'Then whats saying this won't be the same?' Ginny asked with a smile.

'I was married when Rose came along at least,' Hermione said with a sigh, 'this is going to cause outrage and the press…I don't even want to think about what they'll do when it gets out.'

'Forget about what the press think, if you're happy that's all that matters,' Ginny said simply, 'you do remember that James was born in February 1999 and that Harry and I got married in December 1998.'

'I know,' Hermione said with a slight smile, 'but this is different, like you said Draco's a pureblood.'

'How much of a difference can it really make?' Ginny asked with a frown, she was technically pureblood but she was a blood-traitor, and Harry was half-blood.

'Well, the baby would be illegitimate,' Hermione said with a frown, 'it wouldn't have a right to the Malfoy name or fortune.'

'Do you honestly give a shit about that?' Ginny asked with raised eyebrows.

'No, but Draco probably does,' Hermione said honestly, 'and I do give a shit about the names the baby will get called when it goes to Hogwarts. They'll call it a bastard.'

'So are you going to marry him?' Ginny asked.

'I don't know,' Hermione replied honestly, 'I don't want him to marry me out of pity, but I think that might be the kind of thing he would do. That's why I'm so worried about telling him.'

'Try not to worry about it too much,' Ginny advised, 'it's bad for the baby, when can I slip you in for an appointment?'

'Tuesday,' Hermione said instantly, 'it's Draco's day off.'

Ginny nodded, she understood that Hermione didn't want to run into Draco in St. Mungo's while she was in to be checked out.

'Alright, I'm free all morning so pop in around 10,' Ginny said with a comforting smile, 'and try and at least be a little bit happy. You always said you didn't want Rose to be an only child.'

'I know,' Hermione said as she forced a smile, she would be happy if she could predict how Draco would react to this news. Her worst fears would likely be confirmed. Perhaps she was being selfish by trying to keep it from him for as long as possible but she had a feeling it might end their relationship and she was enjoying it so much that the thought of it being over made her feel physically sick.

* * *

'Hermione, are you alright?' Draco asked that Saturday evening as they lay in bed together, both of them propped up against their pillows reading books. Hermione had seemed slightly more like herself towards the end of the day but he still knew something was wrong.

Hermione sighed and shut her eyes, she refused to tell Draco anything until she was 100% sure, 'I'm fine,' she lied, 'just tired.'

'Alright,' Draco said softly, he didn't want to push the issue, he knew by doing that he would only be pushing her away.

Hermione rolled over and fell into a troubled sleep. She pushed through Sunday and the fact Draco was working a double shift made things easier because it meant that she didn't have to spend the whole day lying to him. She mostly played with Rose and Scorpius in the garden as they took turns trying out Rose's new broomstick. On Monday Draco was working again and once more Hermione pushed through, she felt guilty but she couldn't talk to Draco, not yet.

When Tuesday finally came Hermione felt a sense of relief mixed in with the fear and the dread as she got up and pretended to act as if everything was fine while she forced down some cereal.

'Do you want to take the kids to watch the Cannons today?' Draco asked casually over breakfast.

Hermione bit her lip, she had already prepared a lie, 'I'd love too, but I'm meeting Luna this morning.'

'Oh is she still in the country?' Draco asked.

Hermione nodded and tried to smile, 'for a little while yeah.'

'No worries, you don't see Luna very often. I'll take Rose and Scorp to the game since it's my day off,' Draco said cheerfully.

Hermione shook her head in amusement, 'you don't even _like _the Cannons.'

'I know,' Draco said with a smile, 'but Rose does.'

'And you like seeing them getting defeated,' Hermione remarked in amusement.

'That's part of it,' Draco admitted with a grin.

Hermione chuckled, 'I better go,' she said as she glanced at the clock, it was 9.30am.

'Alright, have fun,' Draco said as he kissed Hermione lightly. She forced a smile and left the Manor, she didn't want to floo because Draco could check where she had gone if she did. She walked a little way away from the gates and spun on her heel.

Minutes later she arrived outside of St. Mungo's and quickly she hurried in before the press had the chance to catch her on camera. 30 minutes later she had signed in and was sitting in the waiting room tapping her foot anxiously and feeling nauseous.

There were 3 doors leading off of this little waiting room and one was opened by Ginny. She smiled at Hermione and motioned for her to follow her into the room.

Hermione took a deep breath and walked into the examination room.

'Hey Hermione,' Ginny said happily.

'Hey Gin,' Hermione said weakly.

'Lay down over there,' Ginny said kindly as she pointed to a bed, 'and stop looking like the world is about to end.'

Hermione sighed and lay down on her back in the examination bed and Ginny chuckled slightly, 'you look like you're gonna throw up.'

'I don't get morning sickness,' Hermione reminded Ginny.

'Lift your top up slightly,' Ginny said, and Hermione did.

'I remember that you didn't get morning sickness with Rose,' Ginny said with a chuckle, 'I was pregnant with Al and I was so jealous.'

Hermione smiled weakly, 'I'm lucky I guess.'

'As someone who has had three children and gone through morning sickness with all of them trust me when I say that you are most definitely lucky,' Ginny said as she began to wave her wand about and perform some charms.

Hermione took a deep breath and closed her eyes. She was almost certain she knew what the result would be but she was still nervous. This took her back to her pregnancy with Rose. She and Ron had married in April 1999, just under a year after the final battle. Hermione had fallen pregnant with Rose in August, although she had only found out she was pregnant in October, on Halloween to be precise. The pregnancy hadn't been planned, but they were married. Hermione had only been 20 when she found out that she was pregnant. She and Ron saw no other option but to keep the baby, there was no way either of them would even consider other options despite the fact the pregnancy was unplanned. Hermione felt similarly about this pregnancy, perhaps it was her moral consciousness but if she really was pregnant she knew that she would be keeping the baby, regardless of what Draco's opinion on the situation would be.

'Well Hermione, you're pregnant,' Ginny said, and Hermione opened her eyes to look at her friend, 'but you pretty much knew that.'

'Yeah,' Hermione said softly.

'Just over 3 months,' Ginny informed her friend, 'so the baby was probably conceived around February.'

Hermione smiled very slightly, the beginning of February was when she had 'officially' begun to date Draco.

'What are you going to do?' Ginny asked as she sat down next to Hermione who was now sitting on the edge of the hospital bed.

'Tell Draco,' Hermione said honestly, 'I have no excuse not to now.'

Ginny nodded, 'I think that's sensible,' she agreed, 'the baby is perfectly healthy by the way.'

'Good,' Hermione said, she frowned slightly, 'how did nobody pick this up when I was in St. Mungo's because of the attack?'

'They were in a hurry, trauma healers don't tend to check these things unless say you were clearly heavily pregnant. They were too focused on saving your life,' Ginny explained.

'But it hasn't affected the baby at all?' Hermione asked anxiously.

'The pain potions you were on weren't strong enough to hurt the baby. I promise you Hermione its 100% healthy,' Ginny said with a smile as she took Hermione's hand and squeezed it, 'good luck telling Draco.'

'I'll need it,' Hermione mumbled with a heavy sigh.

* * *

When Hermione walked through the door of Malfoy Manor she overheard Draco, Rose and Scorpius talking in the sitting room and despite the weight on her shoulders she managed a smile as she listened in.

'He did not cheat Scorpius!'

'He did too!'

'Did not!'

'He hit the seeker!'

'The seeker was annoying!'

'Alright you two,' Draco's calm voice intervened, 'Robertson cheated by hitting the Tornadoes seeker but the seeker was being an idiot. Is that fair?'

'Yeah Dad,' Scorpius said.

'Yes Draco,' Rose said ever so politely.

Hermione smiled and walked into the room, she listened to the kids tell her about their morning with as much attention as possible but when they ran out of the sitting room to play upstairs Hermione breathed a sigh of relief.

'Are you finally going to tell me whats been bothering you?' Draco asked as Hermione sat down next to him on the sofa.

'Draco, I lied to you this morning,' Hermione said honestly, 'I wasn't out with Luna, I was at St. Mungo's.'

Draco watched her silently and Hermione swallowed hard, 'I'm pregnant.'

'I know,' Draco said simply, his voice smooth and calm.

'You…' Hermione stuttered, 'you know?'

Draco smiled slightly, 'Hermione, I'm a Senior Healer who works in the Paediatrics ward of St. Mungo's. I _deliver _babies.'

Hermione stared at Draco open-mouthed trying to work out how long he had known for and why he hadn't said anything, she couldn't get these thoughts out properly though as she floundered like a fish.

'I've suspected for a week or so but I really knew on Saturday at Rose's birthday party,' Draco said calmly, 'I was waiting for you to tell me in your own time, when you were ready.'

'Thank you,' Hermione said weakly, the fact he had done that made her realise just how much she underestimated him sometimes.

'So, why didn't you tell me?' Draco asked as he took Hermione's hand.

'You're a pureblood,' Hermione said quietly, 'a child born out of wedlock is an illegitimate bastard as far as your kind are concerned.'

'Are you saying you want to get married?' Draco asked.

Hermione shook her head, 'I don't want you to marry me out of pity Draco.'

Draco frowned slightly, 'I would never marry you because I felt I ought to, I want to marry you when I want to, and when you want to,' he said as he caught Hermione's eye, 'frankly Hermione I don't care whether the baby is born out of wedlock or not.'

Hermione was frowning as she tried to figure out what Draco was saying, 'So…you're happy?'

Draco chuckled at her confusion, 'Of course I'm happy. I always wanted more children, granted it's a surprise but not necessarily a bad one.'

This brought a true smile to Hermione's lips, 'I must say of all the reactions I imagined that wasn't one of them.'

Draco smiled, 'Do you believe that I've changed yet?'

'I'm starting to,' Hermione said honestly as she caught his eye.

'How far along are you?' Draco asked curiously.

'3 months,' Hermione said, still reeling slightly from Draco's reaction to the news, 'what do we do now Draco? We'll need to tell Rose and Scorpius, and my parents, and your Mother…'

'Calm down Hermione,' Draco said, squeezing her hand, 'look I know this is unexpected but accidents happen. We'll tell your parents, and my Mother, the truth. We won't get married because society wants us to, we'll get married when we want to.'

Hermione nodded, taking a deep breath, 'you're right,' she said, 'it just feels wrong, doesn't it? Having a baby and not being married...'

'Sometimes I see a Slytherin side to you,' Draco said thoughtfully as he surveyed Hermione, 'but then other times I see this sweet, naïve nature to you…'

'You've got to be the only person in the world who thinks I'm naïve,' Hermione said in an undertone.

'I know you've been through a war and I know you're strong, but you're so proper,' Draco said fondly, 'maybe it's not traditional, but that doesn't mean it isn't right. Having a baby with you feels right to me. Maybe you aren't my wife yet but you _are _the woman I love.'

'Wow,' Hermione said weakly, 'you're full of surprises today.'

Draco smiled as she composed herself. Draco Malfoy had just told her that he loved her, and she was pregnant with his child. She didn't think her life could have been any more different from how she imagined it would be.

'You love me?' Hermione asked with a slight smile.

'I love you,' Draco said sincerely.

'I love you too,' Hermione said getting a little teary.

Draco chuckled and kissed her, 'are the hormones kicking in already?' he asked when he pulled away.

'Merlin I hope not,' Hermione said as she shook her head in amusement.

'You haven't had any morning sickness yet, have you?' Draco asked.

Hermione smiled at this, 'I don't get morning sickness, I haven't had it yet and I never had it with Rose.'

'You have no idea how many women will be envious of you for that,' Draco said with a chuckle as he hugged her.

'Now that you've come around to the idea, rather spectacularly I must add,' Hermione said, feeling much lighter, 'we now have to think of a way to tell Rose and Scorpius…'

'Ah, yes we do…'

**TBC **


	13. Always Expect the Unexpected

**The War is Over**

**Chapter 13 – Always Expect the Unexpected**

Draco and Hermione shared a slightly nervous glance as they sat in the sitting room of Malfoy Manor with Rose and Scorpius sitting across from them. Both children were looking at their parents inquisitively.

'Rose, Scorpius; Draco and I need to tell you both something,' Hermione began a little shakily.

Draco nodded, 'Hermione and I want to tell you that soon you will both have a baby sister or brother.'

They let this news sink in for the children, Rose spoke up first, 'But Mummy, you said you have to be married to have babies.'

Hermione bit her lip and caught Draco smirking out of the corner of her eye, 'Well Rose, you are supposed to be married to have babies.'

'But Mummy, you and Draco aren't married,' Rose said with a small frown as she tried to make sense of this.

'You're right Rose, we aren't married but sometimes accidents happen and people have babies before they get married,' Hermione tried to explain.

'Dad, does this mean you're going to marry Hermione?' Scorpius asked as he cocked his head at his Father.

'Maybe,' Draco replied simply which took Hermione slightly by surprise.

'But Dad, won't Grandma be angry?' Scorpius asked.

'She probably will be Scorp,' Draco said as he took Hermione's hand, 'but I love Hermione and she knows that.'

'I want a little sister!' Rose piped up eagerly.

'I want a little brother!' Scorpius said loudly.

Hermione and Draco caught each other's eye and sighed in relief. That had gone better than they had first thought it might.

* * *

'Your Mother is going to go berserk,' Hermione said matter of factly from where she was sipping tea in the kitchen area of the Manor.

'Oh I know,' Draco said casually, 'I really don't care though.'

'Not at all?' Hermione asked.

Draco shook his head, 'We never had a great relationship Hermione,' he said honestly, 'she stood back and watched my Father's death eater's friends torture me when I was a child. She stood by and watched my Father using the cruciatus curse on me…she stood back and watched as Voldemort branded me with his mark.'

'I've always found it interesting,' Hermione said thoughtfully, 'that you don't call him the dark lord.'

'Only his followers call him that,' Draco said, 'I'm not one of his followers, I never have been.'

Hermione smiled and cocked her head at Draco, 'you really are a changed man.'

Draco smiled at this, 'I'm glad you're finally starting to believe it.'

Hermione chuckled, 'So what now? Who do we tell next? Your Mother? My parents? Shit!'

'What?' Draco asked with a frown.

'Draco…how the _hell _do we tell Harry?' Hermione asked looking horrified.

Draco laughed out loud at this, 'I might leave you to do that on your own, he's already broken my nose once.'

Despite her worried state of mind Hermione laughed at this, 'you deserved it the last time.'

'That's true,' Draco said in amusement, 'in answer to your question by the way Hermione, I'll tell my Mother on Saturday. She's visiting for the day.'

'I think I'll keep out of the way,' Hermione said with a slight smile.

'I'd advise that,' Draco said darkly.

Hermione overlooked his dark tone, 'Well in that case I'll tell my parents tomorrow afternoon, I think it's best if I do it alone.'

'Don't worry about it, I understand,' Draco said with a smile, 'I'll floo Theo and ask if he can watch the kids. Come to think of it I better tell him sometime soon.'

'Tell him tomorrow when you drop the kids off,' Hermione said as she kissed Draco on the cheek, 'I'm going to take Rose and Scorp out to the Quidditch pitch.'

* * *

'Hey guys!' Theo said to Rose and Scorpius as they rushed through the fireplace.

'Uncle Theo can we play in the garden?' Scorpius asked.

'Sure, the doors open,' Theo said as the kids proceeded to run through the house towards the backdoor.

'Thanks for this Theo,' Draco said with a smile, 'have you got a minute?'

'I've got all the time in the world,' Theo joked.

'I need to tell you something,' Draco said as he sat down heavily on the sofa in Theo's sitting room.

'Whats up?' Theo asked, sensing something abnormal in the air.

'Hermione's pregnant,' Draco said simply.

Theo raised his eyebrows at his best friend, 'Really?'

'Yeah, 3 months along,' Draco said with a slight frown.

'How do you feel about that?' Theo asked curiously.

'I'm excited about having another baby, I always wanted siblings for Scorp,' Draco said with a sigh, 'but it's out of wedlock.'

'Does she know of the problems that presents?' Theo asked curiously.

'Not entirely,' Draco said with a sigh, 'obviously the baby would be illegitimate so it wouldn't be able to take my name. It would be an outcast, as low as a squib…'

'Does it bother you?' Theo asked with a frown, 'even I'd marry a girl if I knocked her up.'

'It bothers me, I don't want an illegitimate child,' Draco admitted, 'Merlin knows how our families would react,' he added.

'Like your Mother,' Theo snorted.

'Exactly,' Draco said, sighing once more.

'So you reckon you should marry her?' Theo asked.

'Well I wanted to before this happened anyway,' Draco said truthfully, 'I've been in that little jewellers in Diagon Alley about a dozen times in the last month.'

'Then if you're doing it for the right reasons by all means go for it,' Theo said, giving Draco some friendly advice.

'Hmm,' Draco said as he stared at the opposite wall blankly, 'I told her I loved her.'

'What did she say?' Theo asked with raised eyebrows.

'That she loved me too,' Draco said with a smile, 'and I do love her. I wish society wasn't the way it is, I don't want her to become an outcast because the baby is born out of wedlock.'

'If you were contemplating a ring you were obviously contemplating a proposal time and idea, so what was it?' Theo asked curiously.

'I had a few ideas,' Draco said, 'the baby is due at the end of October so my idea to propose to Hermione on her birthday could still work but she'd be 8 months pregnant.'

'Do you want to get married before the baby is born?'

'Ideally yeah,' Draco replied, 'I'd be proposing to her, and marrying her for the right reasons, we'd just be speeding up the wedding a little.'

'Isn't she paranoid about commitment because she married Weasel quickly and it didn't end well?' Theo asked with a frown.

Draco nodded with a groan. Theo smiled slightly, 'Don't worry about it so much, she's crazy about you.'

'Thanks Theo,' Draco said with a genuine smile towards his best friend.

* * *

Hermione took a deep breath as she stood at the front door to the house her Mother and Father lived in. She had always had a good relationship with both of her parents and before going to Hogwarts Hermione had been brought up very 'middle-class'. She knew her parents would disapprove of her being pregnant before being married.

It wasn't a downright outrage and it wouldn't 'shame the family' as Hermione knew it would in Narcissa's opinion, but she fully expected her parents to be disappointed in her. Anger, like that which would spill out of Narcissa, she could handle, but disappointment stung so much more.

'Hermione!' Her Mother, Elizabeth Granger said happily as she opened the door.

Hermione smiled and walked into the house, 'Hey Mum.'

'Your Father is just watching television,' Elizabeth said as she led Hermione into the living room.

'Hermione!' Her Father said happily when he saw his daughter. He stood up from the couch and hugged her, 'what a lovely surprise.'

Hermione smiled weakly, 'I actually have something serious that I need to talk to you about,' she said.

Elizabeth Granger, and her husband John, both frowned slightly at the sincere look on Hermione's face.

Hermione sighed heavily and paced the living room floor.

'Hermione, the last time you paced this floor you were trying to decide if you should go to Hogwarts or not,' Elizabeth said with a slight smile.

'Mum, I'm pregnant,' Hermione said, she had thought of so many ways to say it but now that she was here all she could do was spit it out.

Elizabeth and John gaped at her momentarily and then turned to each other.

'Look I'm sorry, it wasn't planned but it happened and there's nothing I can do about it now,' Hermione said, speaking very quickly and not catching her parent's eyes.

'Hermione…' Elizabeth began carefully, 'you know how we felt when you told us you were pregnant with Rose.'

'I know exactly how you felt!' Hermione snapped, 'you were never happy for me Mum! You weren't happy when I married Ron, you said I was too young! Then you were disappointed in me when I told you I was pregnant I was Rose because you thought I was too young to be a Mother!'

'And we were right,' Hermione's Father said, 'your relationship with Ron lasted 5 years, and your marriage barely lasted 3!'

'You can say whatever you want about the mistake I made in marrying Ron,' Hermione said in a dangerously low voice, 'but you can _never _say that I'm not a good Mother to Rose!'

'We didn't say that,' Elizabeth said quickly, 'I just think you ought to think this through Hermione. After all you're only 25 years old, you should be having your first child, not your second.'

Hermione shook her head angrily, 'You'll never understand Mum, maybe I'm 25 but I feel like 35. You've never been through a war, you don't know how it ages you, you don't know how many years it adds to your life watching everyone you love dying around you _every single fucking day_!'

'Hermione!' John scolded, 'there's no need for that!'

'Yes there is!' Hermione snapped, 'because you and Mum have never been supportive of any decision I've ever made!'

Elizabeth sighed, 'Hermione, we're your parents, and we love you,' she said softly, 'I don't agree with everything you've done in life but I'll always support you, and your Father feels the same. I just don't want this baby to grow up without a Father like Rose has.'

'Rose has a Father,' Hermione said quietly, 'his name is Draco Malfoy.'

* * *

'How did it go?'

Hermione threw her handbag down on the floor and sunk into the couch, shutting her eyes and sighing heavily.

'That bad?'

'Yeah,' Hermione said quietly as she opened her eyes and looked at Draco, 'they basically just told me that every decision I've made is wrong, they said I was too young when I got married, too young when I had Rose…'

'Have either of them fought a war? Have they spent 7 years wondering if they might get attacked in their sleep? Have they seen the people they love murdered while they were helpless?' Draco asked calmly.

Hermione shook her head, 'No, and they don't seem to understand how, and I quote, 'that makes a difference'.'

'They'll come around,' Draco said as he hugged Hermione.

'They said that they didn't want the baby to grow up without a Father, like Rose has,' Hermione said as she looked Draco in the eye.

'What did you say to that?' Draco asked.

'I told them it wouldn't, I said we might not be married but you would never leave like Ron did,' Hermione said with a frown, 'and I also told them that Rose has a Father.'

'Weasley,' Draco said with a nod.

'No,' Hermione said softly, 'you.'

This took Draco by surprise, Hermione smiled slightly, 'Draco, you've been a better Father to her in months than he was in years.'

Draco smiled slightly at this, 'Feel free to hit me if I've got my timing wrong, but I think we should talk about marriage.'

Hermione chuckled, 'I think you got your timing perfect.'

'I don't want to marry you and have you resent me because you think I've done it out of sympathy,' Draco said honestly, 'so I'm going to be entirely truthful with you.'

Hermione nodded, and Draco said, 'for the last month I've been looking in the jewellers in Diagon Alley periodically at rings. Before I even wondered about the pregnancy I was thinking about it.'

Hermione was gaping slightly at Draco, 'Really?'

Draco nodded.

'Well,' Hermione said, 'I want to marry you Draco. If you asked me I'd say yes, I think that's what you're trying to work out.'

Draco chuckled at this, 'You know me well.'

Hermione smiled brightly at this, 'Yeah, I think I'm starting too.'

* * *

'5 minutes!'

'I know,' Draco said with a groan as his eyes flicked between the clock on the wall and the floo where his Mother would arrive through shortly.

'Well,' Hermione said with a smile as she threw her coat on, 'good luck, I'll take the kids out.'

'Where are you taking them?' Draco asked Hermione as she put Rose's cardigan on and helped Scorpius tie his shoelaces.

'I hope you don't mind,' Hermione began as she bit her lip, 'I'm taking them to a Muggle place…'

'Oh, I don't mind,' Draco said honestly, 'what are you doing?'

'There's a place near here, it's like a zoo but it's full of monkeys. I've packed a picnic, I thought they would like it,' Hermione said tentatively, 'there's a huge play park there too.'

'I know Scorp will love it,' Draco said with a smile, 'he loves animals, just make sure they don't say anything about our world.'

'I'll try and keep them in check,' Hermione said as she kissed Draco on the cheek, 'but they're kids, people will think they are just playing.'

'You understand Muggles more than I do,' Draco chuckled, 'have a good day.'

'I'll take pictures,' Hermione said as she took Rose's hand in one of her hands and Scorpius's in the other, 'good luck with your Mother.'

'I'll need it,' Draco said grimly.

'Bye Draco!'

'Bye Dad!'

* * *

When the fireplace in the sitting room whirred to life Draco realised that the last time he had felt this nervous was when he was standing at the alter waiting for Astoria to walk down the aisle. He took a deep breath as his Mother emerged from the fireplace in one of her emerald green dresses looking like there was a bad smell under her nose.

'Mother,' Draco greeted her as politely as he could.

'Draco,' Narcissa said with narrowed eyes, 'I must say, I was surprised to hear from you after how we last parted.'

'Yes well I have news to share with you,' Draco said, meeting his Mothers cold hard gaze and matching it, 'In around 6 months I will be a Father again.'

'Is this a joke?' Narcissa asked in a quiet, dangerous tone of voice.

'No,' Draco said simply, 'Hermione is pregnant.'

'And you intend to marry her I suppose?' Narcissa asked.

'Perhaps,' Draco said calmly, 'but I will marry her when _I _want to, not when you want me too.'

'Draco,' Narcissa hissed, 'I warned you that she was bad news and now you tell me she is going to bear your bastard child!'

'Don't call it that!' Draco snapped, 'I intend to propose to Hermione before the baby is born.'

'You had better marry her before the child is born Draco,' Narcissa said dangerously, 'or the child will be illegitimate and worthless to this family.'

'Worthless to you Mother,' Draco said quietly, 'and only to you, not to the rest of this family.'

'I warn you Draco, there will be consequences if you do not marry this girl or send her far away where nobody can discover her child is yours,' Narcissa threatened Draco.

'I will _not _send her _anywhere_! And _I _will decide whether I will marry her or not! I don't understand how you can lecture me about consequences Mother! What about the consequences of the attack Father orchestrated on Diagon Alley?' Draco hissed angrily.

'Do not talk about your Father that way,' Narcissa said quietly.

'I shall talk about my Father however I want, he's nothing more than a criminal who is rightfully rotting in Azkaban!' Draco sneered, 'and you have the nerve to say that I will shame our family by having a child out of wedlock, is he not shaming the family by being a lowly death eater?'

Narcissa slapped Draco hard across the face, 'Your Father is a good man Draco! He was a good Father to you.'

'He was never a good Father,' Draco spat, 'and the fact I've managed to raise Scorpius as well as I have amazes me because I never had a role model of a good parent,' he said coldly.

'Your Father and I were married when you were born Draco,' Narcissa said icily, 'that's more than you can say about your whore and her bastard child.'

Draco took a step back from his Mother, 'you disgust me,' he said angrily, 'she's not a whore and our child will not be a bastard because I fully intend to propose to her next month, but that makes no difference to you!'

'I would not choose her for you Draco,' Narcissa admitted coolly.

'Well you don't pick who I fall in love with Mother,' Draco bit back angrily, 'I don't care what you think about blood-status. I'm finished with doing what you say, all we do by keeping our blood 'pure' is pollute our blood-line! All we do is make ourselves scarcer through inbreeding and I am proud to marry someone who I can definitively say isn't related to me!'

'Your Father was my third cousin Draco,' Narcissa said darkly, 'that is hardly related.'

'Whatever you say Mother,' Draco drawled, 'I also happen to know that I was conceived out of wedlock so I think you are being incredibly hypocritical right now.'

Narcissa narrowed her eyes at her son who continued, 'I was born in June of 1980 Mother, you and Father married in December of 1979. I did the math, you were 3 months pregnant, just as Hermione is now.'

'You were born legitimately Draco,' Narcissa hissed, 'and I do not support your decision to date this despicable Mudblood but if you know what is best for you, you _will _marry her.'

'Is that a threat Mother?' Draco asked smoothly, 'because I know things that could send you to Azkaban in seconds.'

Narcissa glared hotly at Draco, 'I despise this woman, and I despise the unborn child, I despise the thought of this marriage,' she hissed, 'I will return to Monaco today and you will never see me again.'

'Go then,' Draco spat, 'good riddance, all you have ever done throughout my entire life is lecture me on how useless I am.'

Narcissa turned on her heel and stepped into the fire, she was gone in seconds and Draco fell back heavily onto the sofa.

* * *

When Hermione returned later that day with Rose and Scorpius both the children were excited as they told Draco all about their day. Hermione couldn't say anything to him about his Mother until they hurried out of the sitting room to play with their new toys up in their bedroom.

'How did it go?' Hermione asked gently.

Draco shrugged, 'As expected. She said it would shame the family, she said she had never approved of my choices, she said she didn't like you as a match for me. Then she told me she was leaving for Monaco and I would never see her again.'

'I'm sorry Draco,' Hermione said, she felt incredibly guilty.

'Don't apologise,' Draco said as he attempted to smile, 'My Mother and I never had a good relationship. She helped me get through Astoria's death, but she also supported my Father who orchestrated the attack that killed her.'

The poison on Draco's tongue was unmistakable, 'She doesn't know what she'll miss out on,' he said with a real smile as his hand automatically went to Hermione's stomach where there was a small bump.

'You know what the real challenge is now, don't you?' Hermione asked Draco thoughtfully.

'Telling Potter?'

'You really need to start calling him Harry,' Hermione said with a chuckle, 'but yes, he's the only person of importance in our lives who doesn't know yet.'

'Well however bad his reaction is I imagine the Weasley's will react much worse,' Draco said under his breath.

'Don't even get me started on them, I think I'll just ask Ginny to break the news,' Hermione said as she shook her head.

'When are you telling Pot-,' he caught himself, 'Harry?' Draco asked as he pushed himself to his feet.

Hermione glanced at the clock, 'In about 10 minutes. I told you this last night.'

'I was hoping it was a bad dream,' Draco admitted, 'but I wasn't paying much attention. I was slightly too concerned about my Mothers reaction, and it was about as bad as I imagined it would be.'

'Well, at least it wasn't worse,' Hermione said, trying to look on the bright side.

Draco chuckled and said, 'good luck tonight,' he kissed her on the cheek.

'Thanks, lock the floo in case he has the urge to break your nose,' Hermione joked as she made her way towards the front door.

* * *

'Hermione, hey!' Harry greeted his best friend happily when she walked into the entrance hallway of Grimmauld Place.

'Hey Harry,' Hermione said as she forced a smile.

'What did you want to talk about?' Harry asked casually as he made his way into the study.

Hermione chewed her lip and pushed the door to the study shut, 'Well, it's kind of…promise you won't freak out Harry?'

'I'll try not to,' Harry promised, he looked slightly anxious now.

'I'm pregnant,' Hermione blurted out, she seemed to have a habit of doing that lately.

Harry didn't say anything straight away, he frowned deeply and his silence scared Hermione more than anger would have done.

'Are you freaking out?' Hermione asked as she chewed her lip.

Harry still didn't say anything and Hermione's eyes welled up with tears, 'Harry please, say something.'

'Dating Malfoy is one thing Hermione,' Harry said coldly, 'but having a kid with him? How could you do that?'

'What do you mean?' Hermione asked weakly.

'He constantly made your life hell when you were at Hogwarts, he called you a mudblood for _years _Hermione! He nearly killed Buckbeak! He lied about you to Skeeter for a whole year, and humiliated you with that curse on your teeth! He helped Umbridge make our lives miserable, he nearly killed Dumbledore for crying out loud! Then there was the fact that he seriously injured Katie and nearly killed Ron, your ex-husband may I add! You know, the _other _man you had a child with?' Harry was full of anger and ranting now, he barely even noticed Hermione's tears, 'And as if that wasn't enough he stood back and watched his Aunt torture you and carve the word mudblood into your arm! And you're having a _fucking _child with him?'

Hermione glared at Harry through her watery eyes and slapped him hard across the face, 'Harry Potter you may be my best friend but that doesn't mean you're always right! You need to grow up! I'm old enough to make my own decisions and that involves making mistakes! I made one with Ron and I regret it every single day! The only good thing that came out of that marriage was Rose and she's never been happier than she is right now! Maybe you still have some sick, twisted loyalty to Ron for saving your life but I don't, and Draco has been a better Father to her in a few months than Ron ever was! He's a good Father, and I know he'll treat this child better than Ron treated Rose!'

When she finished shouting at Harry she was breathing heavily and seething with anger.

'You've been with him for 3 months Hermione,' Harry said quietly, 'how do you know he's really changed?'

'If he hadn't changed would I even be in this situation?' Hermione asked Harry although the question was rhetorical.

'He could be using-'

'He isn't using me Harry!' Hermione hissed, 'what could he _possibly _gain from that? The war is _over_! It has been for a long time now and you need to see that! Can you not fathom the idea that maybe he actually loves me or is that too hard to believe?'

'Hermione,' Harry sighed as he moved closer to Hermione, 'I can fathom the idea that someone loves you, trust me,' he said.

Hermione frowned slightly as she looked down at the ground, she was trying as hard as possible to avoid Harry's gaze.

'Ron loved you until the aftermath of the war got too much for him,' Harry said sadly, 'and for a while when we were young I thought I loved you.'

'You didn't Harry,' Hermione cut in as she caught his eye.

'I know, but I thought I did at the time,' Harry said simply, 'It's not that I don't believe that he loves you, it's that I can't _stand _the thought of him loving you. Maybe I am paranoid and do you know what? I probably always will be but at the end of the day I'm scared.'

'What are you scared of?' Hermione asked with a frown.

'I'm scared that he'll hurt you the same way Ron did,' Harry admitted.

'So am I,' Hermione said honestly, 'but I've learned to stop living my life in fear. If I don't take risks I could miss out on something that could be great.'

'Since when were you a risk taker?' Harry asked as he cocked his head at his best friend.

'Since Draco and I started dating,' Hermione replied honestly.

'Do you really love him?' Harry asked.

Hermione nodded, 'I do.'

'And you really think having this baby is the right thing to do?' Harry asked helplessly.

'I think it's the only thing to do,' Hermione said honestly.

'Are you going to get married to him? If you're having his baby?' Harry asked distastefully.

'Maybe, that depends if he asks me,' Hermione replied truthfully.

'Hermione Malfoy…' Harry said, wrinkling his nose, 'it's not how I imagined things would be.'

'Well it's how things are likely to be,' Hermione said simply, 'your my best friend Harry, and I love you, but I have to do this and so far,' her breath caught in her throat as she got teary, 'so far no one has had anything nice to say to me about it!'

'Well Hermione we're all looking out for you,' Harry said sensibly, 'nobody wants you to go through the pain of having an illegitimate child. It would get bullied something rotten at Hogwarts, but none of us want you to rush into a marriage if you're not sure of it.'

'I am sure of it,' Hermione said firmly, 'I've never been so sure of anything else in my entire life.'

Harry sighed, 'I can't say that I agree with all of your decisions Hermione,' he said honestly, 'but you're my best friend and you've always supported and trusted me. I think I owe the same to you, I trust your judgement, even if I don't trust Malfoy.'

'I think that's as good as it's going to get right now,' Hermione said honestly, 'but can you promise me something?'

'I'd do pretty much anything for you Hermione,' Harry said honestly with a slight smile.

'Can you attempt to get to know him? Because Draco and I talked about this the other night and…well, we want you to be the baby's Godfather.'

'I can understand why you'd want that Hermione, but why would Malfoy agree to it?' Harry asked curiously.

'He didn't agree to it,' Hermione said as she chewed her lip, 'it was his idea.'

Harry was stunned at this news, 'Why?' he asked sounding bewildered.

'His own words were that if anything happened to either of us there was no one he trusted more to look after the baby than you,' Hermione said honestly, 'his best friend Theo is Scorp's Godfather and he's great but if something happened to Draco he doesn't think Theo would be able to cope.'

Harry was frowning in confusion, 'Are you implying that he thinks highly of me?'

'He thinks very highly of you,' Hermione said with a slight smile, 'he hated you during our Hogwarts years because he was jealous of you, he always has been. He wishes you'd taken his hand that day and become his friend, I think you're the only person who has ever spurned him.'

'Well if he hadn't been such an asshole I might have been tempted,' Harry said thoughtfully, 'in fact I was tempted,' he frowned, 'I've never told anyone this but at Muggle primary school I was the weakest, the one that everyone bullied, and for a minute I contemplated becoming friends with him and being the best, the one who bullied others. Then I realised I couldn't do to poor kids what the bullies did to me.'

'Well Draco never wanted to be the bully,' Hermione said honestly, 'he just wanted to be normal, but he never seemed to have that option.'

'I know how he feels,' Harry said with a sigh, 'I never exactly got the chance to be normal either what with this whole boy-who-lived crap.'

'See you have so much in common already,' Hermione said with a slight smile, 'try and talk to him, properly, I know you and Nev were taking the piss when you invited him to poker night.'

'Yeah we were,' Harry said looking slightly guilty, 'I'll try Hermione, I promise.'

'Thanks Harry,' Hermione said as she kissed her best friend on the cheek, 'that means a lot to me.'

**TBC **


	14. Building Bridges

**The War is Over**

**Chapter 14 -Building Bridges  
**

Draco Malfoy had spent his fair share of time in interrogation rooms. He knew the dull, concrete walls of these rooms very well. He had been in for everything from breach of the peace through to arson, but Zacharias Smith had deserved to have his broomstick set on fire, and besides it was only a bloody shooting star. The amount of compensation money Draco had paid him would have enabled the git to buy at least three firebolts.

'So Malfoy,' Harry said with a smirk as he leant back in his chair and surveyed Draco across the table, 'why did you duel your co-worker in the middle of a hospital corridor?'

Draco shrugged with a slight smirk, 'I was having a bad day.'

Harry raised an eyebrow at the former Slytherin, 'and that accounts for the charges of breach of the peace and minor assault that your co-worker is now pressing?'

Draco scoffed and shrugged it off, 'She won't go through with it, and by the way why did you arrest me and not Daphne?'

'We did arrest her,' Harry said shortly, 'she's next door.'

'Is she?' Draco asked with a snort.

'She is, and she has 4 lawyers with her,' Harry informed Draco.

'4 lawyers? For petty charges like that? If she had the right lawyer she'd only need one,' Draco said very sarcastically.

Harry rolled his eyes, 'Draco, would you stop being a sarcastic git? I'm trying to get you off with a small fine.'

Draco narrowed his eyes slightly at Harry, 'and why would you do that?'

'Well you _are_ dating, and having a child with, my best friend,' Harry pointed out carefully, 'I may not entirely trust or like you, but she means a lot to me and I don't think it would be great for her if you were in prison while she was pregnant.'

'Alright,' Draco said simply, all joking and sarcasm aside, 'what do you need me to do?'

'I need you to apologise to Mrs. Davies profusely, and I need you to at least pretend that you mean it,' Harry said simply, smirking slightly at Draco.

'Sure,' Draco said, it was reluctant of course but if it meant a small fine instead of time he would do it in a heartbeat.

'How did you end up duelling her anyway?' Harry asked as he shook his head in disbelief.

Draco sighed deeply, he didn't answer for a moment and Harry was beginning to wonder if he would when he eventually spoke up, 'She found out about Hermione being pregnant through the hospital records while she was covering someone's shift,' he said with a frown, 'she made a jibe about how by having a bastard child with a mud-,' Draco stopped himself, 'Muggle-born, I was insulting Astoria's memory.'

'Firstly, well done for stopping yourself or I would have given you time, personally I think it should be illegal to use that word,' Harry began somewhat stiffly, 'and while I agree with you and probably would have done the same in your situation, as a senior healer you are expected to be able to control your emotions. Your girlfriend is the pregnant one, not you.'

Draco chuckled slightly and caught Harry smiling, were they actually bonding at the moment?

'Right, get next door and apologise,' Harry said as he got to his feet.

'I will,' Draco said sincerely, 'thanks Potter.'

'You're welcome,' Harry said with a small smile, 'but there is one more thing.'

'Yeah?' Draco asked, narrowing his eyes at the former Gryffindor.

'You're rich, you must have endless supplies of vintage firewhiskey,' Harry said with a smirk, 'drop by the Manor tonight with a bottle and we're even.'

'You've got yourself a deal,' Draco said and he outstretched his hand to Harry.

There was a strong sense of déjà vu for a moment, for both men, and then Harry took Draco's hand and shook it.

* * *

'Why are you so late?' Hermione asked the minute Draco had stepped through the fireplace into the sitting room of the Manor. He glanced around, Rose and Scorpius were nowhere to be seen, he was home an hour later than he should have been.

'I was in an interrogation room,' Draco said honestly, 'in the Auror department of the Ministry.'

Hermione's eyebrows shot up, 'Why?'

'I got in a duel with someone, at work,' Draco admitted as his head began to pound.

'Why would you do that?' Hermione asked, she was frowning deeply.

'Look my late wife's sister works with me at St. Mungo's,' Draco snapped, he wasn't angry at Hermione but he was in a very bad mood, 'she found out about your pregnancy and told me I was shaming Astoria's memory by having a child with a Muggle-born, out of wedlock at that,' he sighed heavily, 'so I cursed her and it started a duel.'

Hermione smiled slightly ruefully, 'Draco Malfoy, you started a duel to defend my honour?'

'Yes,' Draco smiled as he kissed her on the cheek, 'but next time I think I'll skip the interrogation.'

Hermione laughed, 'Did you get community service?'

Draco shook his head, 'Nah the charges were dropped, I got away with a small fine.'

'You're lucky,' Hermione said with a snigger, 'the only Auror I know who lets people off with fines is Harry.'

'Yeah, about that, he was the person who interrogated me,' Draco admitted sheepishly.

'Was he now?' Hermione asked with raised eyebrows.

'Hang on a minute,' Draco realised as he narrowed his eyes at her, 'you know, don't you?'

'Harry _might _have dropped by and told me,' Hermione said with a smirk.

'Honestly woman, you're more Slytherin than you know,' Draco said, shaking his head in amusement.

Hermione only smirked at this, 'I hear you two have a firewhiskey date tonight?'

'Apparently so,' Draco remarked.

'Draco,' Hermione said, the smirk dropping from her face, 'be careful tonight. Harry has had…problems in the past with firewhiskey.'

Draco smiled very slightly, 'Don't worry Hermione, I know what it's like, I've had similar problems.'

'Really?' Hermione asked in surprise.

Draco nodded, his eyes staring into the distance, 'Losing someone you love is hard, especially when you have a child together.'

Hermione placed her hand on his shoulder, 'I'm sorry.'

'Don't be,' Draco said, shaking the thought from his head, 'I'm happy now and that's all that matters,' he said honestly as he kissed his girlfriend.

* * *

As Draco Malfoy stood on the doorstep of number 12 Grimmauld Place he realised just how strange his life had become since he had fallen in love with Hermione.

He rapped his knuckles hard on the door and shook his head in amusement. He heard footsteps and the door was then pulled open by Ginny.

'Hey Draco,' Ginny said brightly with a smile, 'nice to see you.'

'Hi Ginny,' Draco said slightly awkwardly, 'good to see you too.'

Ginny shook her head in amusement, 'You don't have to make it so awkward,' she joked.

'It comes with being a Malfoy,' Draco said honestly, 'you get so used to people being unhappy to see you that it's a foreign thing when someone is.'

'Sounds like an unpleasant way to live,' Ginny commented simply.

Draco frowned, 'it is.'

'Come in,' Ginny said as she stepped back from the doorway.

Draco walked in and looked around the hallway, 'this place looks different,' he commented, 'the last time I was here it was still Black Manor and very much full of dark magic.'

'Yeah,' Ginny said as she glanced around at the cream walls, 'we redecorated pretty quickly.'

'I don't blame you,' Draco said as Ginny led him into the study.

'Harry was home a little late from work,' Ginny explained, 'he's in the shower but he'll be with you shortly,' she frowned, 'but I wanted to talk to you Draco.'

'Why?' Draco asked, he was mostly curious but slightly anxious.

Ginny sighed, 'I know you and Harry are going to have a drink tonight, but I need to warn you about something first.'

'Hermione already mentioned,' Draco said, hoping to spare Ginny the hassle of explaining to him.

'Hermione doesn't know everything about it,' Ginny said with a frown, 'he doesn't have a small problem with firewhiskey, he had a big problem with it.'

'I did too,' Draco admitted honestly, 'I know how to deal with a recovering alcoholic Ginny.'

'Don't call him an alcoholic,' Ginny warned, 'he might break your nose again.'

'Why am I going to break his nose this time?' Harry asked with a smirk as he walked into the study, 'hey Draco,' he added as an afterthought.

'Hey Harry,' Draco said, quite alarmed by the fact he had used the other man's first name.

'Just because he's Malfoy,' Ginny said with a smirk.

'Seems a valid excuse,' Harry joked which made Draco roll his eyes, 'Thanks Potter,' he said dryly.

Ginny chuckled, 'Well I'll leave you two boys to bond,' she said in amusement, 'nice seeing you Draco,' she added as she left the room and shut the study door behind her.

'So,' Draco said awkwardly.

Harry shook his head in amusement at the awkward air, 'I need to leave this open slightly,' he said as he opened the door a little, 'I'm watching the kids while Ginny goes over to Hermione's.'

'Hermione's?' Draco asked in bemusement, 'you mean…'

'Yes, I mean Malfoy Manor,' Harry said as he sat down in an armchair by the fire.

Draco joined him and shook his head, 'that's taking some getting used to,' he admitted as he wrinkled his nose, 'I can't believe I've got Gryffindors visiting my house.'

'Uh Draco, you _live _with a Gryffindor,' Harry pointed out with a smirk, 'and you've got a future Gryffindor living under your roof.'

'How do you know Rose is going to be a Gryffindor?' Draco asked with a snort, 'she's far more Slytherin, or possibly Ravenclaw.'

'I wasn't talking about Rose,' Harry smirked.

'Don't say that about Scorpius,' Draco said as he shook his head in mock disgust, 'don't insult the poor boy.'

Harry shook his head in amusement, 'I heard your conversation with Ginny by the way,' he said thoughtfully, 'I'm not an alcoholic, she just doesn't understand that sometimes after a hard day at work I like a drink.'

Draco frowned slightly, 'Off the record, I'm a recovering alcoholic,' he said, he hadn't even told Hermione the full story, 'after the war it was my way of coping but Astoria got me out of it, and then after her death I relapsed.'

'Yeah, it was the war that started it for me as well,' Harry said honestly, 'firewhiskey…it made me feel numb, I could shut my eyes and not have nightmares, I didn't see the faces of everyone who died for me.'

'I started for pretty similar reasons,' Draco admitted, 'although it didn't take away the guilt or the regret.'

'I don't think anything really can.'

'No, neither do I.'

'I'm not really in the mood for that firewhiskey anymore,' Harry said with a frown as he looked at the bottle in Draco's hands, 'when was the last time you had a drink?'

'I still drink alcohol,' Draco said, 'but the last time I had firewhiskey was about 3 years ago.'

'What made you stop?' Harry asked curiously.

Draco didn't want to share the truth with Harry so instead he said, 'it's complicated.'

'Yeah, I know,' Harry admitted sheepishly, 'Neville told me.'

Draco shook his head, 'Let's pretend you don't know, and can we promise to make sure Hermione never knows?'

'I think that's a deal,' Harry chuckled, 'some things are better kept secret.'

'Agreed,' Draco said darkly, 'so when was your last drink?'

'2 years ago,' Harry replied, 'not long after Lily was born.'

'Was that what made you stop?' Draco asked curiously.

'Partly,' Harry answered, 'but Ginny threatened to leave me if I didn't get a grip on it and that really made things hit home for me.'

Draco nodded, 'I understand that.'

'Can I keep that?' Harry asked, motioning at the bottle of firewhiskey in Draco's hands.'

'Yeah, sure,' Draco said as he handed it to the boy-who-lived.

Harry placed the bottle on the shelf behind the fireplace and said, 'I'm going to leave it there to act as a reminder of the way I was. It's going to be reserved for special occasions,' he smiled slightly as he sat back down, 'we'll take a drink when you and Hermione get married, and another when the baby is born.'

'That reminds me, I've got two things I need to talk to you about Harry,' Draco said seriously.

'Whenever you use my first name I worry,' Harry remarked.

Draco chuckled slightly and pulled a box out of his robes, he flipped it open and showed Harry the ring inside it.

'Draco, are you proposing to me?' Harry joked, 'sorry but I'm a married man.'

Draco shook his head in amusement, 'it's for Hermione.'

'I have to ask one thing,' Harry said sceptically.

'I'm marrying her because I love her, not because of the baby,' Draco said before Harry could say it.

'I don't know why, but I believe you,' Harry said as he surveyed the former Slytherin.

'Do you think she'll like the ring?' Draco asked anxiously.

Harry took a second look at the ring which was beautiful. It was gold with a ruby centre gem and a cluster of diamonds surrounding it in an oval shape.

'I think she'll love it,' Harry said honestly, 'but why are you talking to me about this?'

'I don't have anyone else to talk to about it,' Draco said truthfully, 'Blaise and I aren't exactly the best of friends ever since his Wife tried to kill Hermione, and Theo…well all he knows about women is how to get them into his bed.'

'So I was the next best option?' Harry asked in amusement.

'Believe it or not, yes,' Draco said with a chuckle.

'When are you proposing?'

'Saturday,' Draco said anxiously.

'That's 3 days away,' Harry said in surprise.

'Yes, I'm aware of that,' Draco said somewhat dryly.

'What did her Dad say?' Harry asked in amusement.

Draco raised his eyebrows, 'Well it wasn't the most comfortable conversation I've ever had, but he gave me his permission.'

'For what it's worth you have my approval too,' Harry said honestly, 'how are you proposing?'

'I thought I'd keep it simple, I'm going to make her meal and propose on the patio outside of Malfoy Manor,' Draco said, he looked worried, 'I just hope she says yes.'

'Trust me, she will,' Harry said with a smile, 'do you have someone to watch Rose and Scorpius?'

Draco shook his head and Harry said, 'Well I'm off, do you have any aversions to them staying the night here?'

'No, in fact that would be much appreciated,' Draco said honestly.

Harry smiled slightly, 'Good luck, Draco.'

Draco nodded, smiling back, 'Thank you Harry.'

'So what was the second thing you wanted to talk to me about?' Harry asked, the first had been the thing Draco had been dreading telling him by the sounds of things.

'Hermione and I were wondering whether you had made a decision or not regarding being the baby's Godfather.' Draco said incredibly awkwardly.

'Until this conversation I hadn't made a decision,' Harry said truthfully, 'but this has shed some light on things, so I'd be honoured to be the baby's Godfather.'

'I'm glad,' Draco said honestly, 'although I would ask that you never tell anyone that it was my idea and not Hermione's.'

Harry chuckled under his breath, 'your secret is safe with me.'

* * *

When Draco stepped out of the fireplace in the sitting room of Grimmauld Place the entire Potter squad were there, along with Rose and Scorpius who he had just sent through the floo.

'Oh hey Draco,' Ginny said casually from where she was sitting on the sofa with Lily on her lap.

'I can't believe it's tonight,' Harry said, unable to keep this in, 'I mean it's all happened so fast.'

Ginny rolled her eyes, 'Harry if you're going to act like a pregnant woman on hormones I'm going to get you to start drinking again,' she joked.

Harry chuckled and said, 'It's just a big deal.'

'Tell me about it,' Draco said in an undertone, he took a shaky breath.

'Dad!' Scorpius said loudly, 'whats that?' he pointed to an animal that was crawling on the Potters eldest son, James who had turned 7 a few months ago.

'It's a trained Jarvey,' Harry informed Scorpius and Draco, 'it's capable of basic human speech, and we've made sure it doesn't swear.'

'It looks suspiciously like a ferret,' Draco said as he narrowed his eyes at Harry.

'Does it?' Harry asked in mock surprise, Ginny sniggered from the couch.

'Shut up Weaselbee,' Draco said almost fondly.

'She's a Potter now Draco, it doesn't work,' Harry said with a smirk.

Draco took another breath, 'Right well I better get back to the Manor,' he said, his face was pale and Harry hadn't seen him look so nervous since the end of the war.

'Stop worrying so much,' Ginny said with a smile, 'she'll say yes.'

Draco nodded, 'Thanks for keeping the kids overnight.'

'Don't worry about it,' Harry said with a smile, 'that's what friends do.'

Still looking pale Draco thanked Harry and Ginny one more time and disappeared back through the floo. Hermione was out with Luna who he had managed to rope into his scheme, but she would back in less than an hour so he set about setting everything up out on the patio.

* * *

Draco took a deep breath as the fireplace in the sitting room of Malfoy Manor whirred to life at 7pm on the dot.

Hermione stepped through it with a smile on her face, she was dressed up a little from her coffee date with Luna, but in jeans and high heels she was still fairly casual.

'What's got you all dressed up?' Hermione asked the moment she walked through the fireplace.

Draco smiled, 'You,' he said, he was hardly dressed up anyway, he was wearing a shirt and smart shoes with his comfortable trousers.

'Care to elaborate?' Hermione asked with a slight smile as Draco linked his arm through hers.

'I'm treating you to dinner,' Draco said, 'since you moved into the Manor we've not really had much time for ourselves.'

'I've not had much time for myself since Rose was born,' Hermione pointed out with a chuckle.

'Well I think you deserve some time for yourself,' Draco said as they emerged out onto the patio.

'Wow,' Hermione breathed as she saw the patio. Draco may not have been proud of his family, but he was still a Malfoy, and Malfoy's didn't do things by halves, they did things right. This proposal was fairly small and low key, but that didn't mean he wouldn't put everything into it.

The table in the middle of the patio was lit by candles and there were flowers everywhere and fairies flying around the garden. It looked magical.

'How did you put all of this together with the kids running around?' Hermione asked in amusement as Draco pulled out her chair and let her sit down.

'They're staying the night at Grimmauld Place,' Draco said with a slight smirk, 'with Harry.'

'With Harry?' Hermione asked as her eyebrows shot up, 'Harry Potter?'

'Yeah, that one,' Draco said sheepishly.

'You're letting Scorpius stay the night with the champion of the war and his very Gryffindor family?' Hermione asked in amusement.

'I think it will do him a lot of good,' Draco said with a smile as he sat down opposite Hermione, 'and I think we need a night to ourselves.'

'I agree, and I think it's sweet that you arranged all of this,' Hermione said with a wide grin.

At that point they were interrupted by the starter of their meal arriving in front of them from the kitchens. Draco took a breath to calm himself, he was still a little pale but Hermione hadn't picked up on it so he was clearly containing his nerves well.

They made small talk about how they had spent the day as they ate their food, and once it was finished Draco asked, 'Do you want a small gap before the main course?'

Hermione nodded, 'That would be nice,' she said.

Draco nodded and swallowed a lump in his throat, 'We need to talk Hermione.'

Hermione's face fell, 'Oh…okay.'

'It isn't anything bad,' Draco said hastily, 'or at least I hope that it isn't.'

Hermione frowned slightly and Draco elaborated, 'we've known each a long time now Hermione…but we waited this long to let our feelings out, sometimes I wish we hadn't.'

'Me too,' Hermione admitted.

'I wish I'd had the guts to defy my Father and ask you to the Yule Ball,' Draco said thoughtfully, 'I thought about it a lot.'

'You didn't even have the guts to speak to me at school, unless it was to insult me of course,' Hermione remarked with a chuckle.

'I know,' Draco said with a frown, 'I always wondered if we could have had something amazing together, I just had this feeling that we would fit so well.'

'And we do,' Hermione said with a smile.

'We do,' Draco said softly, 'I wanted to know you better then, I tried once or twice, but we never really got it off of the ground…'

'When did you try and get to know me?' Hermione asked with a bemused look on her face.

'Well, there was that time in 4th year,' Draco said awkwardly, 'I asked you if I could borrow the book you were using, but you told me to get lost.'

'It might have gotten you off on a better footing if you had called me Hermione instead of Granger, oh and taking off the 'Potter Stinks' badge you were wearing might have helped too,' Hermione said with a slight smirk.

'Yeah,' Draco said as he chuckled, 'come to think of it I didn't plan it out very well, but I've planned this out perfectly, this night. Hermione, I know it's only been 4 months, but I've never felt as good as I have these past 4 months with you. Everything seems to finally be fitting into place in a way nothing in my life ever has before,' Draco stood up and pulled a black velvet box from his pocket.

Hermione's eyes widened as he got down on one knee in front of her and popped the box open, 'I love you Hermione, and I want to ask you,' he took a shaky breath, 'will you marry me?'

It took a moment for Hermione to come to terms with the fact Draco was actually proposing, 'this isn't for the baby, is it?' she asked fearfully when she came to her senses.

Draco shook his head, 'No, it's because I want you to be my Wife.'

Hermione's smile widened, 'Then yes, I'll marry you Draco,' she said with tears in her eyes.

Draco beamed and breathed a sigh of relief as he slipped the ring onto her finger.

Hermione was still grinning as she examined it, 'It's beautiful,' she said, 'and its ruby, isn't it?'

'Yeah, it is,' Draco said as he got up from the floor and sat back down across from the woman who was now his fiancé.

'Did you know,' Hermione began, 'that ruby is the stone of the Gryffindor's? Godric had it embedded in all of his precious ornaments and belongings, like his sword.'

'I know,' Draco said slightly dryly, 'the woman in the jewellers told me.'

'How difficult did that make it for you to buy that ring?' Hermione asked with a chuckle.

Draco shook his head, 'You have _no _idea.'

Hermione laughed loudly and Draco grinned, everything really did feel like it was fitting into place finally.

* * *

As Hermione and Draco lay in bed later that night all Hermione could do was stare at the ring on her finger.

'Draco, how soon do you want to get married?' Hermione asked thoughtfully.

'As soon, or as far in the future as you want,' Draco replied diplomatically as he put his book down to look at her.

'I think soon,' Hermione said honestly, 'I never wanted to rush into a wedding again after what happened with Ron but looking back then I think I only really married him because I wanted a normal life after the war. This is different.'

'You're more grown up,' Draco said with a smile.

'Exactly,' Hermione said thoughtfully, 'I want to be married before the baby is born.'

'Ideally so do I,' Draco admitted.

'I don't want to wait too long…I don't want to be huge on my wedding day,' Hermione said as she looked down at her stomach. Even though she was now almost 4 months pregnant her bump was still small enough to hide.

'Hermione, we can get married next week if you want,' Draco said with a grin, 'it's one of the perks of being a billionaire, with money anything can happen quickly.'

Hermione smiled slightly, 'You can seriously have a wedding ready by next week? How?'

'I can hire a wedding planner who will fix everything up,' Draco said simply.

Hermione frowned slightly as she thought about this, 'I'll agree to that on the condition that you and I plan what we want and that I can help her. All I do is sit around the house all day anyway and I want to play a part in organising my own wedding.'

'Deal,' Draco said with a grin, 'so when do you want to get married?'

A similar grin came to Hermione's face, 'two weeks today?'

'Done,' Draco said happily, he rolled onto his front so that he could look at her properly, 'where do you want to get married?' he asked.

'Nowhere special,' Hermione admitted as she chewed her lip, 'I did the big white church wedding and it didn't end very well for me.'

'Or me,' Draco said, 'I like the thought of a smaller, more low key wedding. We could get married in the gardens of the Manor.'

'I was wondering about that,' Hermione said with a smile, 'I think a June wedding in the gardens would be lovely…we could have the meal out there too and then transfer everyone in for the reception in the ballroom.'

'I think it's perfect,' Draco said honestly as he kissed Hermione lightly.

'I won't bother with an expensive dress,' Hermione said sheepishly, 'but I'll have to pick carefully.'

'Do you want it to hide the pregnancy?' Draco asked curiously.

'I don't want everyone to know until after the next scan,' Hermione said with a sigh, 'I don't mind a set few people knowing but for the moment I want to keep it quiet.'

'I understand,' Draco said as he placed his hand on hers, 'Rose can be the flower girl.'

'Oh she'll love that,' Hermione said brightly, 'and Scorp can be the pageboy.'

Draco chuckled, 'we might have to bribe him, but I'm sure he'll do it in the end.'

'I think I'll ask Ginny to be my chief bridesmaid,' Hermione said with a smile, 'and Luna can be my second bridesmaid. I think two is just enough.'

'I'll ask Theo to be my best man, and I'll probably ask Blaise to be my second groomsman,' Draco said thoughtfully.

'What about a colour scheme?' Hermione asked as she chewed her lip thoughtfully.

'I don't mind about the colour scheme, as long as there isn't any pink,' Draco said as he wrinkled his nose, 'or red,' he added as an afterthought.

'Deal, but there won't be any green either,' Hermione said as she wrinkled her nose.

'What are you going to do, paint the grass?' Draco remarked sarcastically.

Hermione hit him lightly over the head and he said, 'Yeah, I probably deserved that.'

'You did,' Hermione said, but she was laughing which made Draco doubt her sincerity.

'We'll have to tell the kids tomorrow, about the wedding,' Hermione said with a smile.

'Oh Merlin, that's going to make them more hyper than anything they could buy in honeydukes,' Draco remarked and Hermione laughed loudly.

* * *

When Hermione appeared from the fireplace in the kitchen of Grimmauld Place she was immediately bombarded with questions from Ginny.

Hermione laughed, 'Yes he asked, yes I said yes, and this is the ring,' she said as she held out her hand and let best friend examine it.

'It's beautiful,' Ginny said as she hugged Hermione, 'I'm pleased for you Hermione.'

Hermione grinned, 'Thanks Gin,' she said as she sat down at the table, 'I wanted to ask you if you would be my chief bridesmaid, again,' she said with a chuckle.

'Of course I will,' Ginny said happily, 'you're my best friend after all.'

'This might shock you, but the wedding will be fairly soon,' Hermione said as she bit her lip, 'we're getting married in two weeks, on Saturday the 11th of June.'

'It doesn't surprise me,' Ginny said with a smile, 'Harry and I thought this would happen, we knew you wouldn't want to have the baby out of wedlock.'

'You know me rather well I must say,' Hermione admitted with a smile, 'but I think it's best for the baby, and it feels so right. You know I had doubts when Ron proposed.'

'I know,' Ginny said softly, 'and I know sometimes you wish you had acted on them.'

'I used too,' Hermione said honestly, 'but I wouldn't change a thing, I can't imagine my life without Rose.'

At that moment Rose rushed into the room with Scorpius hot on her heels. Both children hugged Hermione who chuckled and got to her feet, 'come on you two, we need to get back to the Manor. Draco and I have something important to tell you.'

Ginny smiled and got to her feet, she hugged Hermione and whispered, 'Congratulations, it's from Harry too, he hoped to catch you before work but he had an early start today.'

'I'm sure I'll see him later,' Hermione said with a smile as she sent Rose through the fireplace and then Scorpius after her, 'Thanks so much for watching them last night Gin,' Hermione said as she hugged her friend once last time before disappearing through the fireplace.

* * *

Draco and Hermione found themselves having slight Déjà vu as they sat on the sofa in the sitting room of Malfoy Manor with Rose and Scorpius sitting across from them looking inquisitive.

'Hermione and I are going to get married in two weeks,' Draco told the two children.

The children were silent for a moment.

'But Mummy, doesn't it take forever to plan a wedding?' Rose asked.

'Yes sometimes it can,' Hermione said with a smile, 'but if you really love someone a wedding can happen very quickly.'

'Is it going to be in a big church?' Scorpius asked.

'No Scorp, it's going to be in the back garden of the Manor,' Hermione replied.

'Is Uncle Harry going to be there?' Rose asked.

'Yes of course he is,' Draco said to the girl, 'lots of your friends will be there.'

'Do we get to do anything?' Scorpius asked as he cocked his head at Draco, 'weddings are boring.'

Draco chuckled, 'you'll get to carry the rings Scorp, and Rose will get to wear a nice dress and throw the confetti.'

'Ooh, I like confetti!' Rose said as she bounced up and down in her chair, 'and I like wearing dresses!'

'I don't want to carry some stupid rings Dad,' Scorpius said with a slight frown.

'But Scorp, if you do carry the rings we'll get you a new broomstick, just like Rose's,' Hermione said with a glance at Draco who looked vaguely amused.

Scorpius grinned, 'Okay, I'll do it.'

Hermione chuckled and shook her head in amusement, she was really beginning to think of Scorpius as family now.

* * *

'I'll see you in a little while', Draco called to Hermione as he threw some floo into the sitting room fire.

'Have fun,' Hermione called back as Draco stepped into the green flames and said, 'Nott Manor, sitting room,' the flames roared to life and moments later he walked out of the fireplace in the almost identical sitting room in Theo's home.

'Nice look Theo,' Draco joked as he saw his friend standing in front of a mirror wearing smart trousers with no socks, shoes or shirt.

'Not that it's in my nature to be rude or anything Draco but what do you want?' Theo asked in amusement as he turned to his friend.

Draco raised an eyebrow at his best friend, 'I didn't realise you were entertaining tonight Theo,' he retorted.

Theo smirked, 'I'm having dinner with Gabrielle Delacour this evening,' he said, 'as you can imagine I need some time to prepare.'

Draco rolled his eyes in fond exasperation, 'Isn't she a bit young for you Theo'?

Theo only smirked some more, 'It was actually her idea to have dinner tonight,' he pointed out, 'apparently she remembers me from that business board I was on in France while she was at school.'

'Has she even finished school?' Draco asked with a snort.

'She finished last year, I don't date school kids,' Theo said as he threw on a shirt, 'so what brings you to my humble abode?'

Draco laughed, 'I have some good news for you actually, I proposed to Hermione last night, and she actually said yes.'

'Oi!' Theo said in mock offence, 'why didn't you tell me you were going to propose?'

'I sort of did,' Draco said with a slight frown, 'I told you I was planning on marrying her.'

'Yeah well you could have told me you were doing it soon,' Theo said, and he did seem a little offended.

'Sorry,' Draco said sheepishly, 'I just wanted to keep it secret and keeping secrets isn't exactly your forte.'

'I've kept many a woman's secrets,' Theo said with a smirk.

'I bet you have,' Draco said shaking his head in amusement.

'Did you tell anyone if you were keeping it secret?' Theo asked curiously.

'Well Potter knew, but that was it,' Draco said offhandedly.

'Potter knew?' Theo asked with a snort, 'so you told Harry Potter, war hero and grand prick, but you didn't tell me? Your best friend since forever?'

'Theo, you sound like a pregnant woman,' Draco pointed out, 'or a teenage girl, I'm not sure which. Maybe you've been spending too much time with Gabrielle Delacour.'

'She's not a teenage girl,' Theo said with a chuckle, 'she's a young adult.'

Draco raised an eyebrow at his best friend, 'She's 19.'

Theo shrugged, 'Details, details,' he said offhandedly, 'but in all seriousness Draco I'm happy for you. Who knew all those years ago when I was taking the piss out of you for not having the guts to ask Hermione out that now 10 years later here you would be, engaged to your insufferable know-it-all.'

Draco shook his head in amusement, 'Yes, well I'm glad things have turned out the way they have. We're getting married in two weeks by the way, we're doing it fast because of the baby. I know this doesn't mean as much since you've already done it for me, but I want you to be my best man.'

Theo smiled and said, 'Course I'll be your best man, would I say no?'

'I didn't think you would,' Draco said with a smile, 'but you aren't the difficult part, finding a second groomsman is.'

'Why don't you just ask Blaise?' Theo asked casually, 'wasn't he your other groomsman when you married Astoria?'

'Yeah, him and Astoria's best friend, Kevin Entwhistle I think he was called,' Draco said with a slight frown, 'I'll ask Blaise but I'm not sure if he'll agree to it.'

'Oh I don't know why he wouldn't,' Theo said sarcastically, 'I mean why would the fact his wife is in jail for trying to murder your now fiancé put him off going to that wedding?'

'You're a sarcastic git,' Draco said with a smirk.

Theo grinned happily, 'I'll take that as a compliment.'

Draco chuckled, 'Right well I better be off, just do me one favour.'

'Yeah?'

'Don't bring Gabrielle Delacour to the wedding,' Draco said with a chuckle, 'I don't think her older sister would approve much.'

'Why would she be there?' Theo asked with a frown.

'She and Hermione are fairly close,' Draco replied.

'Ah fair enough,' Theo said, he shrugged, 'I'll just bring Soph.'

'Why is it whenever there is some sort of function you always bring her?' Draco asked curiously, 'not that I have a problem with her or anything,' he added, 'I'm just curious.'

'She likes parties and it saves me from going alone,' Theo replied simply, 'and you do have a problem with her, she was the first and only girl who turned you down.'

'Bad memories,' Draco joked as he shook his head, Theo laughed loudly at this and then there was a knock on the front door.

'Have fun with Miss. Delacour,' Draco said with a snigger as he threw some floo powder into the fireplace and disappeared in seconds.

* * *

When Draco was let into the entrance hall of Zabini House by one of the house elves he felt awkward. The last time he had been here his visit had ended in Pansy's arrest, the last time he was here he had probably ruined Blaise's life.

'I hope that this visit will be somewhat quieter than your last' Blaise said calmly from where he was surveying Draco.

Draco cringed a little as he looked at his friend standing in the doorway of the sitting room, 'I hope that it is, and I would like to apologise, it was never my intention to get you involved.'

Blaise nodded at this, 'It doesn't make it any easier to deal with,' he said honestly, 'but I appreciate your apology all the same. I don't blame you though, I realise that everything that happened was on Pansy's shoulders.'

Draco nodded stiffly, 'I'm sorry all the same, I wish it had worked out for you.'

'Everything happens for a reason,' Blaise said simply, 'now, why do I have the pleasure of a visit from the great Draco Malfoy?' he asked, a small smirk coming to his lips.

'Well,' Draco said a little awkwardly, 'I'm getting married in two weeks and I came here to ask you to be my second groomsman, but I realise with recent happenings you might not be so keen on the idea.'

Blaise appeared pensieve for a moment, 'While I appreciate the offer Draco and I will definitely attend the wedding, I don't feel that I could be such a large part of it,' he said honestly, 'I don't blame you, but in effect you and your future wife are the reason for the breakdown of my marriage and the imprisonment of my ex-wife.'

Draco nodded, 'I understand Blaise,' he said truthfully, 'and thank you for being so frank about it.'

'I hope you find someone else,' Blaise said with a slight smile.

'I'm sure I will,' Draco said with a sigh, 'I am slightly disappointed that you won't be a part of the proceedings, but all the same Hermione and I look forward to seeing you at the wedding.'

Blaise gave a small nod, 'I truly am sorry Draco.'

'As am I Blaise,' Draco said as he shook his friend's hand, 'I hope things look up for you soon, I'll let myself out.'

* * *

'How did it go with Blaise?'

'Not very well,' Draco said with a sigh, he smiled slightly as he looked over to Rose and Scorpius who were playing with one of their potions kits in the corner of the sitting room.

'No?' Hermione asked looking slightly down.

'He said he wouldn't have felt comfortable because of everything that happened with Pansy,' Draco relayed, 'but he said he would be at the wedding.'

'Well that's something,' Hermione said with a smile, 'and you still have two weeks to find someone else, we only got engaged yesterday.'

'I know,' Draco said as he sat down heavily, 'but to be honest with you Hermione…Theo and Blaise are the only close male friends I ever had, Crabbe and Goyle were more like bodyguards.'

'You could always ask Harry,' Hermione suggested.

'I'm not that desperate yet,' Draco said dryly.

'I thought you two got on now?' Hermione asked in amusement.

'We do, but getting on and asking someone to be a groomsman at your wedding are very different things,' Draco said with a frown as his head began to hurt.

'What about Neville? You two are vague friends, aren't you?' Hermione asked with a thoughtful look upon her face.

'We're not really friends, and I don't really want him as my groomsman,' Draco said as he tried to block out uncomfortable memories.

'Well you had better think of something,' Hermione said with a slight smile, 'you can hardly just have Theo there.'

* * *

Draco yawned as he stepped through the fireplace into Theo's sitting room early on Monday morning. The room was empty so he wandered up the stairs and called, 'Oi Theo, wake up!'

There was a groan from Theo's bedroom, 'Draco, what the _hell _are you doing here so early?' he called in a muffled voice.

'I need to talk to you,' Draco called back simply, he heard shuffling and then the door opened and Theo walked out in only his boxers.

'Rough night?' Draco asked in amusement.

'Great night,' Theo whispered with a grin and as he shut the door Draco glimpsed Gabrielle Delacour asleep in his bed.

Draco shook his head in disbelief and amusement, 'Sorry for being so early, I just wanted to talk to you before Hermione's scan this morning.'

'That's today?' Theo asked as he yawned.

'Yeah,' Draco said, 'I asked Blaise last night to be my second groomsman but he said no.'

'Because of Pansy,' Theo said with a tired nod, 'so what you gonna do?'

'I don't know, do you have any ideas?' Draco asked somewhat desperately.

Theo shrugged, 'Why don't you ask Potter?'

'No,' Draco said in disgust, 'he's Harry _Potter_, he will not be the groomsman at my wedding.'

'I don't know man,' Theo said with a smirk, 'anyway I need to get back, she might be up for another round,' he winked at his best friend and disappeared back into his bedroom.

Draco groaned and made his way back to the fireplace so that he could get Hermione and take her into St. Mungo's for her scan.

* * *

Draco and Hermione felt slightly odd as they sat in the waiting room of the maternity ward of St. Mungo's. Their hands were interlocked and they both had sweaty palms.

For Hermione this was the first time the Father of her baby would be at the scan. Ron had been working so Harry had accompanied her to all 3 of her scans with Rose. She supposed looking back that should have been a sign of things to come.

For Draco the last time he had been to baby scans was with Astoria, this was the first time everything hit home for him. She was really gone and he was really moving on, he had gotten a little emotional but he had contained it and gotten on with things.

'Hermione Granger,' a familiar voice called out and Hermione got to her feet and followed Ginny into one of the examination rooms, Draco hadn't let go of her hand.

'Morning Hermione, Draco,' Ginny said brightly as she shut the door behind them.

'Morning Gin,' Hermione said with a smile.

'Lie down on the bed and lift your top up slightly Hermione,' Ginny said cheerfully as she set things up while Hermione got sorted out, 'you remember all this from Rose, right?'

'Vividly,' Hermione said with a faint smile.

'Have you been to scans before Draco?' Ginny asked kindly.

'I went to all of Scorp's,' Draco said with a smile, 'but you don't have to explain it to me Ginny, I cover in the maternity ward sometimes.'

'Oh,' Ginny said with a slight blush, 'yes of course you do.'

Hermione chuckled and said, 'Stop trying to embarrass her Draco.'

'Sorry,' Draco said with a slight smirk.

Ginny smiled and did a few wand movements over Hermione's stomach that made it light up in a faint pink colour so that the outline of the baby could be seen through her skin, 'well it looks healthy,' she said happily, 'and it's moving around a little,' she said as she pointed to the babies tiny feet.'

Hermione smiled, she looked up at Draco whose hand she was still holding and saw that despite his smile he looked a little teary, she looked back to her stomach and said, 'I'm glad it's healthy.'

'I can tell you the sex at your next scan,' Ginny said as she checked the babies heartbeat then ended the spell.

'I think we'd like a surprise when its born,' Hermione said, and Draco nodded his agreement, 'I think that's a good idea.'

'How's the wedding preparation going?' Ginny asked as Hermione got ready to leave.

'Not too badly,' Hermione replied, 'Luna agreed to my second bridesmaid, but Draco isn't having so much luck.'

'No?'

'My friend Blaise wouldn't do it because his ex-wife sort of tried to kill Hermione,' Draco said offhandedly, 'so I need to find someone else but I don't have many male friends.'

'Well, you could always ask Harry,' Ginny suggested casually, Hermione sniggered.

'Ugh,' Draco groaned, 'why is _everyone _saying that?'

* * *

'Have you seen the paper?' Hermione asked as she threw her copy of the Daily Prophet at Draco the moment he walked into the kitchen.

Draco frowned and looked down at the paper, there was nothing on the front cover.

'Flip to the next page,' Hermione said, and Draco did. There was an article complete with pictures of he and Hermione leaving St. Mungo's hand in hand the day before.

'_Granger and Malfoy in suspicious hospital visit,' _the headline read, Draco sighed as he read the main section of the article.

'_Yesterday war hero and close friend of Harry Potter, Hermione Granger was seen leaving St. Mungo's hospital with her new spark ex-death eater, Draco Malfoy. The hospital were tight-lipped in the reasons for this hospital visit, but Miss. Granger was spotted wearing a ruby and diamond ring on her ring finger. _

_Many may question the reason for this visit, and ponder the meaning of the ring on her finger, is it really an engagement ring? Will Miss. Granger really become Mrs. Malfoy? Was this visit just a check-up or is something more serious going on here? One possible reason for this visit could be to check-up on Miss. Granger after the attack she was involved in not long ago that had been orchestrated by Pansy Zabini, now imprisoned. It was reported that she had possible brain injuries but seemed to be incredibly lucky._

_Could our perfect, former deputy Minister be in the hospital for more controversial reasons? Such as an unplanned pregnancy with new lover Mr. Malfoy? If so this would explain the appearance of an engagement ring on the war hero's finger. Miss. Granger has been photographed several times in recent months wearing baggy clothes and looking slightly pale. Mr. Malfoy and Miss. Granger were both unavailable for comment on this matter.'_

Draco scoffed and threw the paper in the bin, 'I hope you don't believe what they said about the engagement.'

'Draco, I'll never believe a word that Rita Skeeter prints,' Hermione said matter of factly.

'Is that who wrote it?' Draco asked bitterly, 'go figure.'

'Yeah well her reputation precedes her,' Hermione said with the same slightly bitter tone.

'Do you have a jar?' Draco asked in an undertone.

* * *

Draco was on his way to lunch when he bumped into Harry making his way into St. Mungo's.

'Hey Draco,' Harry said when he spotted the Slytherin.

'Oh hey Harry, what are you doing here?' Draco asked.

'Just taking lunch to Gin,' Harry said as he held up a brown paper bag.

Draco chuckled, 'I wanted to ask you something actually,' he said with a slight grimace, he had been thinking about this for the past few days.

'Yeah, anything important?' Harry asked casually.

'Well I don't have a groomsman, Blaise wouldn't do it because of everything that happened with Pansy,' Draco explained.

Harry nodded, 'Understandable,' he said.

'Yeah,' Draco said with a sigh, 'everyone keeps telling me to ask you, so will you do it?'

Harry raised an eyebrow at the former Slytherin, 'ask me nicely and sure.'

Draco rolled his eyes, 'Harry, since you are _clearly _such a close and _beloved _friend. Would you please be the second groomsman at my wedding?'

'Beloved?' Harry scoffed, 'that sounds like something you would say at a funeral,' he shook his head in amusement, 'ask me again without being a sarcastic git and I might be more inclined to say yes,' Harry remarked as he walked away from Draco towards the staircase to the upper floors.

Draco groaned and made his way out of the building slightly angrier than he might normally have done.

* * *

'How was your day?' Hermione asked over dinner that night after she had told Draco what she had done with the wedding planner that day.

'It was alright,' Draco said, 'I bumped into Harry, and asked him to be my groomsman.'

'Oh yeah? What did he say?' Hermione asked curiously.

'He say he might say yes if I asked him properly and without being sarcastic,' Draco replied.

Hermione snorted, 'well that will be a challenge for you,' she remarked.

'Exactly,' Draco said dryly, 'but I've wracked my brains and I can't think of anyone else so I'm going to have to ask Harry.'

'Just ask him again,' Hermione advised, 'flatter him, and try with your upmost strength not to be sarcastic.'

'Oh I don't know if that's possible,' Draco joked making Hermione chuckle.

* * *

'Hey Harry,' Draco said as he walked into Harry's office in the Auror department.

'Wow, Draco Malfoy in this part of the Ministry of his own accord,' Harry said with a smirk.

'Rare, I know,' Draco said with a chuckle as he sat down across from Harry, 'I brought you coffee,' he said as he handed a plastic cup to Harry, 'and burgers,' he added as he dropped a brown paper bag in front of the former Gryffindor.

Harry narrowed his eyes at Draco, 'Have you killed someone?'

'No,' Draco replied as he leant back in his chair.

'Attempted murder?'

'Nope.'

'Assault?'

'Not this time.'

Harry chuckled as he bit into the burger Draco had brought him, 'so what do you want?'

'I want you to please,' Draco said, wincing at the word, 'pretty please, be a groomsman at my wedding.'

'Hmm, maybe,' Harry said with a wicked grin.

'You want to make me beg don't you?' Draco asked as he glared at Harry.

'I must admit I do a little,' Harry replied honestly.

Draco sighed deeply, 'Please Harry, I really need a groomsman and I don't have many friends but I think we actually are getting closer so can you please, please, please be my groomsman?'

'Of course I will Draco,' Harry said with a grin, 'thanks for the coffee, and the burger, but I'm still holding the moment you begged me for something somewhere in between fond memories and blackmail.'

'I hate you Potter.'

* * *

'How did it go?' Hermione asked the moment Draco walked into the sitting room.

'Terrible,' Draco said with a groan.

'Did he say no again?' Hermione asked as her face fell.

'No, he said yes,' Draco admitted.

'Then what's so bad?' Hermione asked with a confused frown.

'He made me beg him to do it,' Draco said darkly, 'I _begged _Harry Potter. You should be honoured, honestly the things I do for you woman.'

Hermione chuckled at this and said, 'I'm very honoured Draco.'

'I swear I don't deserve the Malfoy name, begging to a Gryffindor, and Harry Potter at that,' Draco said, shaking his head in disbelief as he walked out of the door and made for the stairs.

'Where are you going?' Hermione called after him as he began to make his way upstairs.

'To the study,' Draco called back down, 'to disown myself.'

Hermione laughed loudly at this, her relationship with Draco felt more right in months than her relationship with Ron ever had, and in small moments like this she realised it more than ever.

**TBC :)**

**A/N: So this is going to have somewhere between 20 & 25 chapters when its done. Hope you're all enjoying it! :D**


	15. It's a Nice Day for a White Wedding

**The War is Over**

**Chapter 15 - It's a Nice Day for a White Wedding**

_**A/N: A couple of people have said in reviews & personal messages that certain plot elements should be added to the story, but these ideas are ones I've had and will be coming into the story. I've already got the story planned out so the things that have come up are in that plan but will be coming later on in the story. I'm not having a rant or anything I would just ask that people are patient and they things they have asked about will be popping up fairly shortly **_

* * *

'Is it just me or does this feel much more difficult this time than it did the first time?' Hermione asked with a heavy sigh as she sat down for a break in one of the comfortable chairs in Madam Malkins.

'I hate to point out the obvious Hermione,' Ginny said with a slight smirk, 'but you weren't pregnant the last time.'

Hermione rolled her eyes in amusement, 'Yes I'm aware of that.'

'I think all of the dresses have been beautiful,' Luna said with a smile.

'They all make me look fat,' Hermione whined.

'What do you expect? You're _pregnant_,' Ginny pointed out with a snigger.

Hermione groaned, 'I know but I want something a little more…I don't know, elegant.'

'Alright, elegant maternity dress that doesn't make you look fat,' Ginny said with a chuckle, 'you've barely even got a bump Hermione.'

Hermione sighed and got to her feet, 'I know, and I know most people won't notice but I do.'

'Don't worry Hermione, we understand,' Luna said kindly as they got back to searching through wedding dresses.

'Try this one on,' Ginny said as she carefully handed Hermione a dress.

'Alright,' Hermione said with a sigh as she disappeared into the changing room.

She emerged 5 minutes later looking exquisite and she was actually smiling for the first time since they had walked into the shop, 'what do you think?' she asked her two friends nervously.

'You look beautiful,' Luna said dreamily.

'And you definitely don't look pregnant,' Ginny added honestly.

The dress was floor length and floaty in style which hid Hermione's small bump. The straps were decorated beautifully to look like golden flowers and there was a band under the bust that gave the dress some shape without making it look obvious that Hermione was pregnant.

'I think it's perfect,' Hermione said honestly.

'Great, then buy it before you change your mind,' Ginny said with a chuckle as Hermione disappeared back into the changing room once more.

When she emerged again she paid for the dress and got it boxed up then moved onto the next task, the bridesmaid dresses for Ginny and Luna. They had just started looking when the door to the shop opened and someone that Hermione vaguely recognised walked in.

The woman had blonde hair, a pointy nose and sharp blue eyes. She saw Hermione and scoffed as if she was looking at something ridiculous.

'What was _that _for?' Ginny asked hotly, her temper hadn't changed.

'I just can't believe the type of riff-raff they let in here these days,' the woman said dirtily, 'pregnant whores getting married to save their children from being bastards.'

It was then that Hermione realised who the woman was as Ginny asked, 'Okay what the hell is your problem?'

'Her problem is with me,' Hermione cut in with a glare at the woman, 'she thinks I'm a disgrace to Draco's late wife.'

Ginny frowned, and Daphne spat, 'you _are _a disgrace, and a bad influence on Scorpius. I can't believe the child of a Malfoy and Greengrass is being raised by a filthy Mudblood like you.'

'Don't call her that!' Luna exclaimed angrily as she pulled her wand out, it surprised Hermione slightly.

'Shut up,' Daphne drawled, 'I'm not scared of a pregnant whore, a Weasley and a lunatic.'

'Stay out of our life,' Hermione warned Daphne, 'you may be Scorpius's Aunt and no one will ever stop you from seeing him, but this baby has nothing to do with you and neither does my marriage to Draco.'

'Scorpius is a Malfoy,' Daphne said with a slightly evil glint in her eyes, 'he will always be a Malfoy regardless of anything you attempt to indoctrinate him with and when he is old enough he will resent you for trying to replace his Mother, I will make sure of it.'

'All I want to do is love Scorpius,' Hermione said honestly, 'and I believe when he is old enough he will see that, and he won't resent me. I think the only person who does resent me is you Daphne.'

'I don't know what you've done to Draco to make him go for this pathetic marriage,' Daphne hissed, 'but mark my words it won't last!'

'Shut up,' Ginny said sounding both angry and fed up, 'I'm sick of your crap, and I'm pretty sure Hermione is too,' with one quick sweep of her wand she had cursed Daphne with her famous bat bogey hex.

'We might be a pregnant whore, a Weasley and a lunatic,' Hermione said with a smirk, 'but you seem to forget, we won the war and you…oh yeah, you lost.'

* * *

'How long is this going to take?'

'Are you bored already Potter?' Theo asked with a smirk.

'No,' Harry replied as he rolled his eyes, 'but I am on call today. Some of us have a real job.'

'Oi!' Theo retorted, 'who provides your department with Veritaserum?'

'Alright fair point,' Harry said, shaking his head in amusement, Draco sniggered as they entered a dress robes shop in Diagon Alley, 'I thought you two might clash.'

Harry rolled his eyes once more, 'So, what are we looking for?'

'Dress robes,' Draco replied dryly.

'Yeah what colour?' Harry asked in exasperation.

'I don't know, something to fit Hermione's theme,' Draco drawled.

'What _is _Hermione's theme?' Theo asked in amusement.

'Uh purple,' Draco replied which made Harry and Theo snigger.

'You'll look manly in purple dress robes,' Theo said with a snort.

'How about black with a purple trim or something?' Harry asked as a large silver dog bounded over to him.

'_Potter. Code yellow, assault on a Muggle in Somerset.'_

Harry sighed and conjured up a patronus, 'Not important enough to drag me away Wood, I'm busy at the moment, take Zabini,' with that he sent the patronus away and turned back to Draco and Theo who were surveying him in amusement.

'What? I told you I was on call today,' Harry said simply.

'Do you ever stop working?' Theo asked in amusement, 'you're always there when I drop in.'

'That's because I'm your advisor,' Harry said as if this were obvious.

Draco was looking between the two men in confusion, 'Wait, you two know each other?'

Harry chuckled, 'Theo and I have somewhat of an agreement,' he admitted sheepishly.

'I have this tendency to end up rather often in the long arms of the law,' Theo said with a grin, 'so Harry and I struck up a little deal whereby I don't get arrested and he gets information about wanted criminals.'

'Theo, _you _are an informant?' Draco asked in a shocked undertone.

'It's good money!' Theo said in his defence.

'You're rich!' Draco retorted.

'Have you seen the amount of women I entertain? It's an expensive hobby!' Theo said with a smirk.

Draco shook his head in disbelief and noticed that Harry was doing something similar, 'I don't understand this lifestyle, I'm happily married.'

Draco chuckled, 'And I will be shortly,' he said.

'Marriage is a death sentence,' Theo said with a grin, 'I'm free.'

'And lonely I imagine,' Harry said with a slight frown.

'He isn't lonely,' Draco said as he sniggered, 'he has Gabrielle Delacour.'

'You're sleeping with Gabby?' Harry asked in disbelief, 'she's a teenager!'

'It was her idea!' Theo said as he raised his hands in the air, 'and how do you know her anyway?'

'She's practically family,' Harry said with a frown, 'I know her sister well.'

'You better not hurt her Theo,' Draco warned with a smirk, 'he'll break your nose.'

'Oh shut up, you deserved that,' Harry retorted which made Theo laugh loudly.

In a strange, dysfunctional sort of way, they all got on rather well.

'Oh for crying out loud,' Harry said as another patronus bounded in, the dog again.

'_Potter, Wizard setting exploding toilets on a Muggle in Surrey.'_

This made Draco and Theo burst out into uncontrollable laughter and Harry sent a patronus back saying, 'Oliver, seriously? This is kind of important, send a couple of juniors!'

'Exploding toilets, wow Potter what an important job you have,' Theo remarked through his laughter.

Harry rolled his eyes and caught Draco's eye across Theo who was still laughing hysterically.

'Thanks,' Draco said quietly, 'I'm glad it's important for you to be here.'

Harry smiled and said, 'Don't worry about it.'

* * *

When Draco emerged from the fireplace he wasn't surprised to see Hermione sitting with her feet up reading a book.

'Hey,' he said as he sat down next to her and kissed her, 'me and my groomsmen are sorted.'

'I got my dress,' Hermione said happily, 'and Ginny and Luna have theirs.'

'Great,' Draco said with a grin.

'How was your day?' Hermione asked as she put her book down.

'Interesting,' Draco replied with a smirk, 'did you know that Theodore Nott, champion Slytherin badass, is an informant?'

'Yes,' Hermione replied simply.

'What?' Draco asked in a high-pitched voice, 'how did you know that?'

'Draco, you seem to forget that I was the Deputy Minister for Magic, I know many secrets,' Hermione said with a grin.

'Tell me them,' Draco said with a smirk.

'I can't, confidentiality agreements and all that,' Hermione said offhandedly, 'so, apart from finding out Theo was an informant did anything else interesting happen to you?'

'Harry seemed to actually care about being there today. He had multiple opportunities to leave, he got about 5 patronus's through, but he didn't, he said none of them were important enough for him to leave something so important,' Draco relayed as he stared at the wall thoughtfully.

'He's not actually as bad as you made him out to be,' Hermione said with a slight smile.

'I know,' Draco admitted sheepishly, 'I feel kind of guilty for making him out to be an asshole for the last 15 years.'

'Don't worry, I think the feeling was mutual,' Hermione said with a smirk, 'when he wasn't complaining about Voldemort he was complaining about Snape and when he wasn't complaining about either of them it was you he was whining about.'

'Well at least he didn't hate me more than Voldemort,' Draco said with a chuckle, 'anyway, how was your day?'

'Interesting,' Hermione said echoing Draco's earlier words.

Draco raised an eyebrow at her, 'Yeah? What happened?'

'We ran into Daphne,' Hermione said sheepishly, 'she was being a complete bitch. She said I was a disgrace and that I was trying to indoctrinate Scorpius and replace his real Mother,' she frowned, 'she sounded like you when you were 11 years old.'

'Daphne's never really grown up in some ways,' Draco said as he shook his head in disgust, 'if she stepped too far I hope you cursed her.'

'I didn't,' Hermione said honestly, 'but Ginny did.'

Draco chuckled, 'Good, I have no doubt that she deserved it.'

'She said she wasn't scared of a pregnant whore, a Weasley and a lunatic,' Hermione said to Draco who looked disgusted at what Daphne had called Hermione, 'but she seems to forget that the three of us went through a war, we might not look like much but we're damn good fighters.'

'Not that I was planning on her inviting her anyway, but after this there is no way Daphne's getting invited to the wedding,' Draco said, 'what she said to you is disgusting. Did she call you a…you know?'

'Yeah she called me a Mudblood,' Hermione replied with a frown, 'but that's what I am, isn't it?'

'No,' Draco said firmly, 'you're the smartest witch of your age. She's jealous of you, she can't fathom how you've had such success despite being born from Muggles rather than a high flying Wizarding family. She's a rotten piece of work, just ignore her.'

Hermione nodded at this, Draco continued, 'Most Slytherins aren't like her, Astoria was a little bit like that but not so badly. You know Theo adores you, and Sophie's rather fond of you too. Pansy was more like Daphne, and Crabbe and Goyle didn't know anything.'

'What about Blaise?' Hermione asked curiously.

'Well he's never been particularly prejudice, not even since he married Pansy. The other girl who was in Slytherin in our year, Tracey, she's a close friend of mine and she's a Half-blood,' Draco said thoughtfully.

'I guess all Slytherins get a bad reputation because of a couple of prejudice idiots,' Hermione said and Draco nodded in agreement.

'So what should I do if I see her again?' Hermione asked as she chewed on her lip.

'Just ignore her,' Draco said with a smile, 'and if she starts her crap tell her to talk to me about it then we'll see what happens. She's a coward.'

'Most Slytherins are,' Hermione noted, watching Draco carefully.

'I think you bring out the courage in me,' Draco said with a smile towards Hermione, 'but then you terrify me too.'

Hermione laughed loudly at this and despite the events of the day she still felt as happy as she had ever done with Draco.

* * *

Hermione Granger had a tendency to freak out when relationships got to a certain level of seriousness, all in all she had done fairly well in not freaking out with Draco. However now she was sitting in her bedroom in Malfoy Manor wearing a wedding dress preparing to marry Draco Malfoy, in her mind that meant she was allowed to freak out a little.

'Are you sure I'm doing the right thing?' Hermione asked Ginny and Luna, 'I mean I'm becoming Hermione Malfoy…'

'I know,' Ginny said with a raised eyebrow, 'it sounds a bit weird, right?'

'More than a bit,' Hermione said as she took a deep breath.

'You're just having your usual commitment related panic,' Ginny said casually as she finished fixing Hermione's hair, 'once you're walking down the aisle you'll be fine.'

'It's hardly an aisle,' Hermione said, the wedding area was set up in the garden. She would walk down the centre of the seats to an arch where she and Draco would officially be married.

'Well you know what I mean,' Ginny said offhandedly, 'I seem to remember you nearly ran away on the morning of your wedding to Ron so you're doing much better this time.'

Luna chuckled and said, 'I think I would have run away too.'

Hermione laughed at this, 'Yeah, looking back I wish I had,' she said in amusement.

'So you've established that you are doing the right thing then?' Ginny asked with a chuckle.

Hermione smiled, 'I think I am,' she said.

'And you look beautiful,' Luna said with a dreamy smile.

'Thanks Luna,' Hermione said brightly. She was wearing the dress she had picked out with medium height white high heels. Her hair was pulled up into a bun with some loose strands left down, just like she had worn it to the Yule Ball. She was wearing white flower earrings and a necklace to match with a white flower in her hair.

Ginny had done Hermione's make-up and despite the fact she didn't wasn't particularly girly, and that she didn't like pink, the light pink lipstick, slight blusher and pink/purple eyeshadow actually worked very well and she thought she looked very feminine.

'Are you ready to go?' Ginny asked as she helped Hermione up, 'we're meeting the others by the backdoor.'

Hermione swallowed a lump in her throat and nodded, she linked her arm through Ginny's and they walked down two sets of stairs which was difficult in heels and a wedding dress. When they reached the backdoor Hermione smiled as she saw her Father looking nervous as he stood stiffly in a full suit. Next to him and holding his hand was Rose who was dressed in a lilac dress with a dark purple ribbon around the waist. Ginny and Luna were wearing similar dresses, and Scorpius was wearing black dress robes with a purple trim as he stood on Rose's other side.

'I never thought I'd be doing this again,' John said as he linked his arm through his daughters, 'after Ron I was sure you would never marry again.'

'So was I,' Hermione said honestly, 'but I guess we can't predict where our lives will lead us.'

'Are you happy Hermione?' He asked with a slight frown.

'Dad, I'm happier than I have been in a long time,' Hermione said truthfully as she smiled up at her Father, 'I promise.'

'Despite what your Mother and I think we are happy for you,' John said honestly, 'we're just scared Hermione. We don't understand your world or the way you've lived, we haven't fought a war like you have.'

'I know Dad,' Hermione said with a small smile, 'but I don't care as long as you're happy for me.'

* * *

Theo and Harry couldn't be more different, but they had one thing in common. They were both amused at the fact that Draco Malfoy, who was known for holding it together and never breaking, was beginning to crack.

'Do you think she'll show up?' Draco asked anxiously as he wrung his hands together from where he was sitting in the garden of Malfoy Manor as the guests began to come in and sit down.

'She'll show up,' Harry said with a smirk, 'although she did nearly run away on the morning of her wedding to Ron.'

'That isn't encouraging Potter,' Draco said dryly.

Theo sniggered, 'Don't worry about Draco, I'd run away too if I was getting married to Weasel.'

Harry smiled slightly but there was pain behind it, despite all he had done Harry missed Ron who had completely cut himself off from everyone in England, even his own family.

'In all seriousness,' Draco said with a sigh as he looked at his friends gathering on his side of the seats, 'what if Daphne's right? Am I shaming Astoria by marrying again? Am I betraying her memory by letting myself have a new life with Hermione?' he sighed heavily.

'You look like you have the weight of the world on your shoulders,' Harry said with a slight smile, 'and we all know that's my job.'

'Potters right,' Theo said as he placed his hand on Draco's shoulder, 'and forget what Daphne thinks or says. You and I both know that nobody disagreed with Daphne more than Astoria.'

Draco chuckled at this, 'That's true,' he said with a smile.

'Astoria wouldn't be angry at you for marrying again,' Theo assured his best friend, 'in fact if I know Astoria she'd be glad, she was always worried about you being lonely.'

Draco nodded and subtly wiped his eyes, 'Yeah,' he said, 'you're right Theo.'

'Stop worrying and stand up straight,' Harry said with a smile, 'she'll be on her way down that aisle soon.'

* * *

'Alright, it's time to go!' Ginny said as she pushed open the backdoor. The garden was decorated with purple flowers and the 'aisle' between the two sets of silver seats was scattered with lilac petals. Music played out of silver and lilac balloons which swelled with the music and Hermione took a deep breath as she looked around at the people here. There weren't many, when Hermione had said low-key she had meant it, but everyone who was here mattered to her, and to Draco.

On Draco's side of the seats there were significantly less people which made Hermione a little sad, but he had sworn that he didn't mind. There were a few people Hermione knew that Draco had kept close with from school like Blaise and Sophie who were sitting together, a girl she vaguely recognised as Tracey Davis was there too, Hermione knew she had been a Slytherin in their year but they hadn't talked much. Most of the other people there were people he knew from work like Susan and Stephen Cornfoot, who had been a Ravenclaw in their year at school. Hermione recognised people like Emily Henderson, who was Draco's assigned Medi-Witch for his surgeries, and Ben Davidson and Stuart Denning who were his favourite junior Healers. His boss Samuel Robertson was even here but other than that his side was fairly empty. His Mother had been invited, but Narcissa hadn't shown up and he didn't have much other family.

On Hermione's side sat 7 year old Teddy Lupin being supervised by his Grandmother Andromeda. Next to him were the Potter children, James, Albus and Lily who were being closely watched by Molly and Arthur. George and Angelina were also here with their son Fred, and next to them were Bill and Fleur with their children Victoire, Dominique and Louis. Charlie was here alone but he was talking to Percy who was here with his wife Audrey and their children Molly and Lucy. Hermione was pleased that all of the Weasley's had come to the wedding, when she had invited them she wasn't sure if they would or not. She had decided that kids were allowed at the wedding, she had Rose and Draco had Scorpius so it gave them someone to talk to at the meal and reception. Neville was also on Hermione's side, as was Kingsley along with Padma Patil and Dean Thomas who she had gotten close to while working in the Ministry. Oliver, Harry's Auror partner, and his wife Katie were there too with their two children.

As Hermione began to walk down the aisle her cheeks burned as she felt everyone's eyes on her. She looked to the arch where she saw a short man in black dress robes standing with a smile on his face. Next to him she saw Draco who looked marvellous in his black dress robes with a purple trim and hem, he looked paler than usual and Hermione smiled slightly, Draco didn't get nervous often. Theo was standing proudly next to him in black dress robes and it still amused Hermione to see Harry standing next to Theo, she couldn't believe Draco had actually asked him to be his groomsman.

When Hermione reached Draco she smiled nervously at him as her Father put her hand in Draco's. He lifted her veil and kissed her on the cheek, 'Good luck,' he said softly as he sat down next to Hermione's Mother in the front row. Ginny and Luna took their stance next to Hermione and Sophie pulled Scorpius and Rose into their seats as they wandered off aimlessly.

Hermione chuckled as she looked at Draco with a smile on her face, he still looked nervous but he seemed better now that Hermione was here, he felt more convinced that she wasn't going to run away and leave him at the altar.

'Ladies and Gentlemen,' the small man said, 'you are welcomed here today to witness the marriage of Draco Lucius Malfoy and Hermione Jean Granger.'

Hermione and Draco smiled almost shyly at each other and the man continued, 'I must ask now under the authority of Wizarding law, if any man can show just cause as to why these two people may not be lawfully wed, let him speak now or forever hold his peace.'

Hermione thought of Ron, and how he would react to this marriage, and this baby, she knew he would be disgusted and enraged by the whole thing. No one spoke and so the man continued, 'Do you Draco Lucius Malfoy, and you Hermione Jean Granger, promise to comfort, honour, protect and be faithful to each other for as long as you both shall live?'

Draco smiled as he looked into Hermione's deep brown eyes, 'I do,' he said simply.

'I do too,' Hermione said softly, her cheeks slightly pink.

The little man smiled, 'I would ask you now to say your vows to one another.'

Draco and Hermione then turned to face each other and intertwined both of their hands. Draco began, they had chosen to write personal vows and he had agreed to go first since he knew it would make Hermione less nervous, 'Hermione, when I saw you that day in St. Mungo's it was the first time I had seen you in the flesh since we were fighting opposite sides of a war,' he said, his voice loud and clear, he didn't sound nervous at all, 'I think almost everyone here who went to school with us knew then that my teasing of you was because I never had the nerve to actually ask you out or Merlin forbid, tell you how I felt. That day I sensed a second chance for us and I've never been more glad to act on my instincts. Thank you Hermione, for taking a chance on someone who never really deserved it.'

Hermione was beaming but tears were rolling down her face which she didn't even bother to mop up. She took a moment to get a hold of herself and catch her breath. In the audience more than a few people were in tears too.

With a deep breath Hermione was ready to say her vows to Draco, she had been rehearsing them in front of the mirror for the past few days and she was just hoping they would come out okay now. For someone who had been the Deputy Minister for Magic she wasn't a very good public speaker, 'Draco, it may not have been love at first sight for us, but I think that sometimes that's a good thing. Falling in love with a friend is hard and it almost always ends in disaster,' Hermione's voice was only a little shaky, 'but falling in love with Draco was different. Despite the fact he teased me during our school years I always saw something in him that others around me didn't, I recognised a mask to cover true feelings when I saw one,' she smiled at Draco, 'and now that the mask has come down I can't wait to spend the rest of my life with you Draco.'

Draco was smiling, his eyes were a little glassy but he wasn't crying, he didn't cry very often. The little man was smiling as he continued, 'Do you Draco Lucius Malfoy take Hermione Jean Granger to have and to hold from this day forward? For better, for worse, for richer or poorer, in sickness and health, to love and to cherish until death do you part?'

'I do,' Draco said, his voice softer than usual.

'And do you Hermione Jean Granger take Draco Lucius Malfoy to have and to hold from this day forward? For better, for worse, for richer or poorer, in sickness and health, to love and to cherish until death do you part?' the little man asked with his eyes focused on Hermione.

'I do,' Hermione said as she held back her tears.

Draco grinned and Hermione mouthed, 'hormones,' at him which only a set few people saw such as Harry and Ginny who shared amused glances.

The little man then asked for the rings to be presented but Scorpius didn't quite understand what to do so Sophie helped him out. Hermione smiled as Sophie took his hand and helped him walk forward with his little pillow with the rings on it.

'Place the ring on Hermione's finger,' the little man said as Draco picked up Hermione's wedding ring which was a simple gold band with diamonds and ruby's around the edges. His hands were perfectly still as he slid the ring onto Hermione's finger where it sat comfortably next to her engagement ring.

'Place the ring on Draco's finger,' the man then said as Hermione picked up Draco's wedding ring which was just a plain gold band. Unlike Draco, Hermione's hands shook slightly as she slipped the ring onto Draco's finger where it fitted perfectly.

'I am now delighted to pronounce you man and wife,' the little man said with a large smile, 'you may now kiss your bride!'

Draco smiled as he kissed Hermione lightly on the lips amidst applause from all of their family and friends.

* * *

The garden was quickly converted from a wedding venue to a place for a luxury outside meal. There was the high table which was set up for 8 with Hermione and Draco in the middle. Next to Draco was Theo and next to him Harry then John on the end which Hermione knew her Father was thrilled about because he loved to talk to Harry about Muggle politics. Next to Hermione was Ginny and then Luna, then at the end her Mother seemed slightly alarmed by whatever Luna was saying to her. Other tables were laid out in the garden including a smaller table that was just for the children.

With everyone sitting down it meant that it was time for the speeches, there would only be two, one from the best man and another from Hermione's chief bridesmaid. Hermione's Father had given a speech at her wedding with Ron and she didn't feel it was fair to ask him again, he hated speaking in public.

'Keep it free of profanities Theo,' Hermione mumbled to Draco's best friend as he was about to stand and give his speech, 'there are children present.'

'Don't worry Hermione,' Draco said with a smirk, 'he'll find other ways to slip in innuendos.'

'Of course I will,' Theo said with a wink as he got to his feet and called for attention.

'I've known Draco for a long time now. Almost 20 years in fact, and no one is more surprised than me at this marriage,' Theo began brightly, 'I remember Draco whining about Hermione all the way through our school years, all about how she got better grades than him and she was friends with perfect Potter and oh it was such a waste because she would have been so much better in Slytherin,' Theo said in a mock whiny voice. There was some laughter from the Slytherins they had gone to school with as they nodded in agreement with this.

'But,' Theo said with a grin, 'it was obvious he was only complaining because he had a crush on her which of course being Slytherins, we teased him rotten for since she was a Gryffindor,' Hermione chuckled at this and Draco's cheeks were slightly pink, 'in 4th year Draco told me he would ask Hermione out one day when his families prejudices didn't rule his life but I brushed it off thinking it would never happen. Yet here we are about 10 years later and I'm glad my coward of a best friend took the plunge. I don't believe in marriage, but if I had a girl like Hermione in my life I think I probably would.'

Hermione smiled at the speech as Theo sat down to applause.

'That was sweet Theo,' Hermione said as she kissed him on the cheek.

'And completely free of innuendos,' Draco said sounding impressed.

'It's your wedding day,' Theo said with a smile at his best friend, 'I can be serious when the occasions requires it.'

At this Draco and Hermione both chuckled, Ginny was now standing up to give her speech, she winked at Hermione as she called for attention, 'I've known Hermione since I was 11 years old,' she said with a smile, 'and she's been one of the people who I've always been able to rely on throughout my entire life. When she told she was dating Draco Malfoy I had to admit that it took me by surprise. The more I thought about it however the more I realised how well it worked, Draco and Hermione might have gotten off on the wrong footing and because of that they couldn't realise how similar they are. I'm proud of Hermione for not caring what the press or what other people think and for following her heart,' Ginny said as she reached down and took Hermione's hand, 'people can judge them however they want, but they know, and all of us here know, that both Draco and Hermione have finally found the person who completes their life and I know that they will be happy for the rest of their lives.'

Hermione was crying slightly as Ginny sat down, even Harry was smiling and clapping at her speech.

'Was it that bad?' Ginny joked as Hermione wiped her eyes.

'Hormones,' Hermione said simply which made Ginny laugh, 'that was a beautiful speech Gin,' she said as she hugged her friend.

'It was just the truth,' Ginny said as she squeezed Hermione's hand, 'I'm glad you're finally happy.'

The small comment was about Ron, but only Hermione and Ginny knew that.

* * *

When the meal was over the group all moved up into the ballroom which Hermione hadn't seen yet. Draco had been in charge of decorating it. The room looked beautiful, there was a dance-floor in the centre with small tables and chairs around the room, and there were silver and lilac balloons everywhere and lilac confetti on the silver tablecloths.

The first dance wasn't to a particularly significant song but Draco and Hermione enjoyed it because it was their first chance to speak without being overheard for a while.

'Has it sunk in yet, Mrs. Malfoy?' Draco asked with a smirk as he and Hermione swivelled around the floor effortlessly.

'No,' Hermione replied honestly with a slight smile, 'but it will.'

Draco smiled too, 'It hasn't quite sunk in for me yet, that I've married a Gryffindor that is.'

'Oh hush,' Hermione said with a chuckle, 'It's worse for me, renown war heroine and all that I am, and look how far I've fallen. I mean, I've married a _Slytherin_.'

Draco grinned and spun her out then back to him, 'I still can't quite believe how fast this has all happened, and how little I mind.'

'Maybe it's a sign,' Hermione said with a smile, 'Ginny's right, we are a perfect fit.'

'I just wish we had realised it earlier,' Draco said as he pulled Hermione closer.

'So do I,' Hermione said, she glanced over to Rose and Scorpius who were being taught to dance by Sophie and Theo, 'but then I look at those two children and I'm glad things worked out the way they have.'

'As am I,' Draco said honestly as he grinned upon looking at his son attempting to dance with Rose.

'What do you think about those two?' Hermione asked with a smile.

'Rose and Scorpius?' Draco asked in confusion.

'No,' Hermione said softly, 'Theo and Sophie.'

'Oh Merlin knows,' Draco said with a chuckle, 'they've been friends forever, they went to the Yule Ball together if I remember correctly.'

'Given Theo's speech…' Hermione said thoughtfully, 'I think Sophie might be that girl who convinces him marriage is worth it.'

'Maybe,' Draco said as he turned back to Hermione, 'but tonight is about us, Mrs. Malfoy.'

'That still sounds weird,' Hermione chuckled.

* * *

'Theo's drunk,' Hermione said in amusement to Draco as they danced together later in the night. They had cut and eaten the cake and after that Theo had gotten worse as the night went on.

'Yes, I believe he is,' Draco said with a chuckle as they watched Theo put his arm around Sophie and lead her towards the door.

'Wow,' Hermione said with a laugh, and Draco sniggered, 'are they actually leaving together?'

'I believe they are,' Hermione said as Theo and Sophie walked out of the ballroom, or rather Theo staggered out of the ballroom with Sophie holding him up.

'I've seen them arrive to many an event together,' Draco said with a smirk, 'but I've never seen them leave together.'

'There's a first for everything,' Hermione said with a chuckle.

At that point Harry tapped on Draco's shoulder, he smiled at the Slytherin, 'Mind if I steal your wife for a dance?'

'Sure,' Draco said as he stepped back from Hermione and let Harry dance with her, he walked away to give them some privacy.

'I'm happy for you Hermione,' Harry said honestly as he danced with his best friend, 'the fact your second name is now Malfoy…well that's going to take some getting used to.'

'Tell me about it,' Hermione said with a raised eyebrow.

Harry chuckled, 'I am sorry for how I initially reacted to your relationship with Draco.'

'I don't blame you,' Hermione said honestly, 'it took everyone by surprise.'

'Do you think Ron will ever find out?' Harry asked quietly, 'I'm sorry to bring him up on your wedding day, but do you think he will ever come back and find out about you and Draco?'

'I don't know,' Hermione replied with a slight frown, 'maybe he will and if he does there isn't anything he can do about it. He has no rights to me or Rose after what he did.'

Harry nodded, he too was frowning, 'I miss him, but part of me doesn't think he deserves to come back,' he said honestly, 'and despite everything Ron and I went through together I think Draco's better for you than he ever was.'

'Thank you Harry,' Hermione said getting a little teary, she kissed him on the cheek, 'you'll never know how much that means to me.'

Harry smiled and said, 'it's just the truth Hermione.'

Hermione chuckled at how similar Harry and Ginny were, they too were a perfect fit.

* * *

'It's time,' Draco said with a smile as he wrapped his arm around Hermione, 'the carriage awaits.'

Hermione smiled and nodded, 'we should probably say goodbye then.'

They walked towards their closest family and friends and Hermione went down on her hunches (a difficult feat in a wedding dress) to talk to Rose and Scorpius, 'Rose, Scorp, Draco and I will be away for 5 days like we told you,' she said, 'so you behave for Uncle Harry and Aunt Ginny, and the same for Uncle Theo when he looks after you alright?'

'Promise Mummy,' Rose said with slightly watery eyes.

'I promise too Hermione,' Scorpius said sincerely.

Rose rushed forward and said, 'I don't want you to go Mummy.'

Hermione swallowed a lump in her throat, 'you'll be fine sweetheart, you'll be with Scorpius, and James, Al and Lily all week. You don't even have to go to your tutor if you don't want too,' she said as she hugged her daughter.

Rose nodded and pulled back from the hug, 'Okay,' she said quietly.

'I'll look after Rose,' Scorpius said as he puffed out his chest. Hermione chuckled and hugged the boy, 'Thank you Scorp.'

Draco then got down and said, 'Alright, like Hermione says, best behaviour, even when you're at Uncle Theo's, I know he doesn't have the same rules as Uncle Harry and Aunt Ginny.'

Scorpius nodded, 'I promise I won't get in trouble Dad.'

'Keep an eye on Rose,' Draco added quietly and Scorpius nodded once more, 'Can you bring me a present back?'

Draco chuckled, 'Course I will,' he said as he hugged his son.

'And we'll bring a present back for you too Rose,' he said as he hugged the girl.

'Thank you Draco,' Rose said, still a little upset.

'No problem,' Draco said with a smile as he got to his feet and took Hermione's hand. She wasn't crying but she was a little upset, she didn't leave Rose for long periods of time very often.

'She'll be fine when she's at Grimmauld Place,' Draco whispered to Hermione as they were cheered and waved out of the manor into the front garden where a large lilac carriage awaited them.

Draco helped Hermione in and they waved out of the window as it took off into the air, it was being pulled by hippogriffs.

'I'm sure you're right,' Hermione said softly as she waved to her daughter from the window until the carriage was too high and everyone in the grounds of the manor were just little dots.

**TBC :)  
**


	16. The Return of Rita Skeeter

**The War is Over**

**Chapter 16 - The Return of Rita Skeeter**

'Hermione they'll be fine,' Draco said in vague amusement as their flying carriage landed in the front garden of the Manor.

'I just want to see them,' Hermione said honestly, she had enjoyed their few days away but she was worried about Rose and Scorpius.

Draco shook his head in amusement as he helped Hermione out of the carriage. She had been on the ground for only a few minutes when she was bombarded.

'MUMMY!'

'Hermione!'

Rose and Scorpius both grabbed and hugged her legs which made Draco chuckle as he shared an amused glance with Harry, who was leaning in the doorway.

Hermione managed not to cry as she hugged the kids, 'Did you have a good week?'

'Harry has a huge Quidditch pitch in his garden!' Scorpius said brightly, 'Rose and me played with James and Al!'

'Al?' Draco asked Harry with raised eyebrows.

'Scorpius and Al got on pretty well this last week,' Harry said with a smirk, 'watch out Draco, our children might become friends.'

'Merlin forbid,' Draco joked with a chuckle.

'I missed you Mummy,' Rose said matter of factly as she held onto Hermione tightly.

'I missed you too sweetheart,' Hermione said honestly, 'but I'm back now.'

'And we have presents for you,' Draco said with a smile to the two kids whose attention was then immediately on him, 'come on, we'll go inside and you'll get your presents.'

'Okay!' Rose and Scorpius said in unison as they hurried into the house after Draco.

'How was the honeymoon?' Harry asked Hermione as he put his arm around her shoulder.

Hermione smiled, 'It was nice, the weather was lovely in Malta.'

'I can tell,' Harry said with a chuckle as he looked at Hermione's tan, 'why do I get the impression it wasn't as enjoyable as it should have been?'

'It was enjoyable,' Hermione said with a slight smirk, 'I just realised that a honeymoon isn't so much fun when you're pregnant and you can't drink wine.'

Harry laughed loudly at this as they emerged into the entrance hall, 'you're missing it already?' he asked in amusement, 'good luck, you've still got 4 months to go.'

'I know,' Hermione said with a groan, 'I don't miss much, but I do miss wine I have to admit.'

Harry chuckled as he and Hermione walked into the sitting room where Rose and Scorpius had just opened the presents she and Draco had brought back from Malta. Rose had a new dress and Scorpius had a curse-breaking kit which they were both delighted about.

'I'll leave the happy family be,' Harry said to Hermione quietly with a smile.

Hermione chuckled, 'I never thought I'd hear you say that.'

'Well it's true,' Harry said simply as he kissed Hermione on the cheek, 'it's good to have you back Hermione.'

'Bye Harry,' Hermione said as she watched her friend leave through the entrance hall fire.

* * *

'Morning Draco,' a female voice said brightly when Draco walked out of the locker room at St. Mungo's.

'Oh hey Ginny,' Draco said as he grabbed his clipboard.

'How was the honeymoon?' Ginny asked with a smile.

'Great, although I think Hermione missed being able to drink wine,' Draco said with a chuckle, 'were the kids alright for you?'

'They were perfect,' Ginny said honestly, 'better behaved than our three,' she chuckled, 'but having Rose and Scorpius this week opened Harry's eyes a little.'

'What do you mean?' Draco asked in vague amusement.

'He's been trying to convince me that we should have another child, but having 5 in the house this week convinced him 3 was fine,' Ginny said with a chuckle.

'Well you know what they say,' Draco said in amusement, '3 is the magic number.'

Ginny laughed, 'Exactly, I'm glad you had a good honeymoon, but I'd better get back to work. It was nice seeing you.'

'You too Ginny,' Draco said with a smile.

* * *

Hermione had thought it would take time for her and Draco to adjust to being a married couple but they slipped back into things easily and the only difference was for Hermione. She had to remind herself to sign things differently, it had been strange for her when she was Hermione Weasley but she had been Granger again for so long that she kept signing things out of habit with her maiden name.

After the honeymoon things went back to normal, Draco was back at work and the kids were back to getting tutored. Apart from dropping the kids off at the tutors and watching them when they weren't there Hermione didn't have much to do so she immersed herself in her work for starting at Hogwarts. The baby was due at the end of November so McGonagall had told her she could start after Christmas which gave her some time with the baby before going back to work. She didn't need to work on her class plans and the like just yet but it gave her something to do on the long boring days.

The rest of June flew by and July passed just as fast until the beginning of the last week. Hermione could hardly believe how fast the time was going when she realised that her 6 month scan was upcoming.

'Are you ready for today?' Draco called through to Hermione as he got dressed.

'I'm fine,' Hermione said honestly, 'how are you?'

Draco emerged from the bedroom with a smile, 'I'm excited,' he said honestly, 'although I am sorry about having to rush off to work straight after the scan.'

'Don't worry about it,' Hermione said with a smile, 'you were lucky to get time off for the honeymoon on such short notice.'

'Still, I'd make sure you got home alright if I could,' Draco said as they walked into the kitchen where Rose and Scorpius were already eating their cereal.

'I'm a big girl Draco, I'll get home fine,' Hermione said with a smile as she sat down at the breakfast bar.

'Mummy, why are you going to hospital?' Rose asked with a frown.

'The Medi-Witch is just going to check on the baby Rose,' Hermione said with a smile, 'she's just to make sure it's okay.'

'Mummy, babies take _ages_,' Rose complained which made Draco chuckle.

Hermione smiled, 'Yes Rose, they do,' she said, 'now eat up, you need your strength for Quidditch practice this morning.'

'Is Uncle Harry taking me today?' Rose asked brightly.

'He is,' Hermione said with a smile, 'and he's taking Scorpius along to watch you.'

At this Rose and Scorpius began to chatter and Rose forgot about the fact Hermione was going to hospital.

* * *

'Good morning Hermione,' Ginny said brightly when Draco and Hermione walked into the examination room.

'Morning Gin,' Hermione said with a tired smile.

'How have you been feeling lately?' Ginny asked as Hermione sat down on the edge of the bed.

'Tired, and achy,' Hermione said honestly.

'Any nausea?' Ginny asked as she glanced at a checklist on her lap.

'No,' Hermione replied.

'Any cravings yet?' Ginny asked with a smile.

'A couple,' Hermione admitted, 'for some reason I seem to be eating a lot of coconut ice cream.'

Draco wrinkled his nose at this, 'and it's disgusting.'

Ginny laughed, 'Well it's better than what you craved with Rose.'

'What did you crave with Rose?' Draco asked with amusement and curiosity.

'I ate deep fried chocolate bars,' Hermione admitted sheepishly.

'Honestly Hermione,' Draco said in disbelief, 'for someone who eats so healthily you eat such rubbish when you're pregnant.'

Hermione and Ginny both laughed at this as Ginny lay Hermione down on the examination bed. Just like the last time Hermione pulled her top up slightly and Ginny performed a few charms. Hermione's stomach was much bigger now and very noticeable, she couldn't hide it anymore so she just tried to stay out of places like Diagon Alley where the press lurked often.

'The baby looks great,' Ginny said as Hermione's stomach lit up with a pink glow so that she and Draco could see the baby inside.

'Has it been kicking yet?' Ginny asked.

'A little,' Hermione said with a grin as she held Draco's hand tightly and looked at her baby.

'That's its feet,' Ginny said, 'and its little hands there,' she added.

'Is it okay?' Hermione asked anxiously.

'It's perfectly healthy, it has a normal heartbeat and it's developing just fine,' Ginny said, 'do you want a photograph to show people?'

'Yes please Gin,' Hermione said with a smile as she watched the baby in her stomach.

Hermione watched as Ginny performed a charm very carefully that allowed her to look properly at the baby then she pulled a silver strand from her head, a memory. She then put the memory inside a vial and placed it inside a machine in the corner of the room. In only a few seconds the memory was converted into a moving wizarding photograph which Ginny handed to Hermione who was crying a little.

'Hormones,' Hermione said by way of explanation which made both Ginny and Draco laugh out loud.

* * *

When Draco woke up the morning after Hermione's scan he got out of bed quietly and made his way downstairs. He had an early shift and he didn't like waking Hermione up at 6am unless he could help it.

When he walked into the kitchen he started his normal early morning routine by sitting down at the breakfast bar with a bowl of porridge and a cup of coffee. He picked up that days copy of the Daily Prophet which the house-elves had left on the bar for him and lost his appetite when he saw the front page.

'_**WAR HEROINE'S SCANDALOUS PREGNANCY!'**_

Beneath this headline there was a picture of Hermione and Draco leaving St. Mungo's hand in hand, with Hermione wearing a fairly tight-fitting top it was clear in the picture that she was heavily pregnant.

'_The real reason war heroine Hermione Granger married ex death-eater Draco Malfoy,' _the sub-heading read, _'The new Mrs. Hermione Malfoy, former Deputy Minister for Magic, was spotted yesterday leaving St. Mungo's Hospital for Magical Maladies with new husband and ex death-eater Draco Malfoy. As can be seen Mrs. Malfoy is heavily pregnant, perhaps the reason for her quick nuptials last month. This begs the question, did the Malfoys marry for love or necessity? To avoid bringing a bastard child into one of the most prominent pure-blooded lines. _

_We must also wonder whether the former Miss. Granger has married ex death-eater Mr. Malfoy for his money, or perhaps as a stand towards former husband and fellow war hero, Ronald Weasley, Father of her daughter. The former Miss. Granger has a reputation with high flying men such as Viktor Krum who she has dated twice, once while at Hogwarts, and a second time more recently. The new Mrs. Malfoy also has links to war hero and close friend Harry Potter who she dated while at school and spent a year on the run with during the war. _

_The wedding of the former Miss. Granger and Mr. Malfoy took place at the beginning of June and was fairly low profile. An inside source told us that certain high-profile guests attended such as Senior Auror Harry Potter along with his wife Ginevra Potter, Medi-Witch at St. Mungo's, and expert potions brewer Theodore Nott. Given that both of the Potters had a hand to play in the proceedings of the wedding, the controversial pregnancy of Mrs. Malfoy is no surprise. Mr. and Mrs. Potter's first child's date of birth and the date of the couple's wedding do not exactly coincide peacefully. Weddings of necessity are common amongst pureblood men who act first and think second, Mr. Malfoy Senior, now imprisoned in Azkaban, and his wife Narcissa Malfoy (nee Black) also married out of necessity. Therefore it is no surprise that their son is following in their footsteps.'_

Draco growled angrily and threw the paper in the fire, 'bitch!'

'Dad are you swearing?'

Draco jumped and turned to see Scorpius standing in the doorway wearing his England Quidditch pyjamas.

'Sorry Scorp,' Draco said quietly, 'I need you to help me with something.'

'Okay,' Scorpius said brightly.

'The papers have some nasty things in them that I don't want Hermione to see so can you gather them from all of the bedrooms and reception rooms and bring them to me?' Draco asked his son.

'Okay Dad,' Scorpius said simply.

'Thanks Scorp,' Draco said as he ruffled his son's hair, 'don't tell Hermione about this, alright?'

Scorpius nodded, 'If I help you can I have chocolate pancakes for breakfast?'

'Sure,' Draco said with a smile, 'but only if you keep it a secret.'

'Okay Dad,' Scorpius whispered as he hurried from the room.

* * *

By the time Hermione woke up at 8am Draco was about to leave for work and all of the copies of 'The Daily Prophet' had been burned to ashes in the sitting room fire.

'Morning,' Draco said brightly as he kissed Hermione on the cheek, 'how did you sleep?'

'I slept well,' Hermione said with a smile. Rose was also awake now and sitting at the breakfast bar with Scorpius. She joined them and frowned, 'where's the paper?'

'Oh it hasn't come today,' Draco lied.

Hermione's frown deepened, 'But it always comes.'

'There's a flu at the moment going around the owls,' Draco said matter of factly.

Hermione raised an eyebrow at Draco, 'Owl flu?'

'Yeah, it's an epidemic, a lot of owls are sick,' Draco said sincerely.

'Are the owls going to die?' Rose asked with wide watery eyes.

'No sweetheart, they'll be fine,' Hermione said with a soft smile towards her daughter. She turned to Draco, 'whats the real reason we don't have a paper?' she asked in an undertone.

'Owl flu,' Draco said simply as he kissed her on the cheek, 'I've got to go, see you tonight.'

At that Draco rushed out of the door leaving Hermione bewildered. She got on with her day by eating breakfast then getting the kids ready and dropping them at their tutor. After that she had a few hours in the house and it became clear fairly quickly that there weren't any copies of the paper in any of the rooms of the houses which was odd because she could always find a paper in the Manor.

Hermione groaned and muttered, 'There's something in that paper he doesn't want me to see.'

With determination she put her coat on and floo-ed into Diagon Alley. She slipped through mostly unnoticed, bought a paper and left as soon as she could. She didn't actually look at the contents of that paper until she got back to the Manor and the moment she did she realised why Draco had kept it from her.

'Bitch!' Hermione hissed angrily as she grabbed the paper and made her way towards the floo, she practically shouted, '12 Grimmauld Place, kitchen,' and proceeded to storm into the flames and out of them on the other end.

'Have you seen this?' She asked angrily as she slammed the paper onto the table.

Harry was watching her with concern, it was his day off today so he was watching the kids, 'Yeah, I saw it,' he said quietly.

'I can't believe even Skeeter would stoop this low!' Hermione hissed as she paced the kitchen, 'I know she hates me because of what I did to her but this is low even for her!'

'She has no morals,' Harry reminded his best friend, 'what did Draco think of the article?'

'I don't know,' Hermione said with a sigh, 'but he obviously knew it would piss me off because he got rid of all the copies in the Manor.'

'Impressive,' Harry said with a smirk, 'there must be over 30 rooms in that house.'

Hermione smiled weakly, 'I'm pretty sure that's how he spent his morning,' she admitted.

'Well you can't say he isn't dedicated,' Harry said with a chuckle, 'but I think he'll learn soon enough that Hermione Granger doesn't need, or want protection.'

'Hermione Malfoy now Harry,' Hermione said with a slight smirk.

'I don't think I'll _ever _get used to that,' Harry admitted as he shook his head in amusement.

Hermione chuckled, 'It's taking me time to get used to it. Do you think I should go to St. Mungo's and talk to Draco about the article?'

Harry shook his head, 'Nah, it's best to wait until he comes home from work. I wouldn't worry if I were you, do you really think he'd believe that anything happened between us?'

'I don't know,' Hermione said as she chewed her lip, 'he might.'

'I doubt it,' Harry said, 'he knows we're just friends.'

'I guess,' Hermione said with a sigh, 'I better go Harry, I've got to pick the kids up from their tutor.'

'Alright, well it was nice seeing you,' Harry said as he kissed Hermione on the cheek, 'even if you did just use me to vent.'

* * *

When Draco walked into the Manor at 6pm that evening the first thing he heard was Hermione's voice saying, 'Well?'

He turned to where she was sitting waiting for him on the sofa and he instantly knew that she knew, 'I'm sorry,' he said.

'What are you sorry for?' Hermione asked with a raised eyebrow.

'Hiding the papers from you,' Draco said sheepishly as he sat down next to her.

'I'm a big girl Draco,' Hermione said softly, 'I was always going to find out, you shouldn't have hid the truth from me.'

'I know,' Draco said with a sigh, 'I just didn't want you to see the horrible things that woman had written about you.'

'I'm used to it, I'm sure you remember 4th year when you fed her information,' Hermione said with a sharp glance at Draco.

'I know, and I'm sorry about that too,' Draco said with a sigh.

'Are you okay?' Hermione asked gently.

Draco frowned slightly and didn't look up to catch Hermione's eye, 'Is it true? What she wrote about you and Potter?'

Hermione rolled her eyes at this, 'I thought you knew better by now,' she said honestly, 'nothing has ever happened between Harry and I. Skeeter can't fathom that a man and a woman can really just be friends. Nothing will ever happen between us, don't worry.'

'Any particular reason?' Draco asked as he caught Hermione's eye.

'Because we're both happily married, you idiot,' Hermione said affectionately.

Draco chuckled at this, 'I'm sorry for not telling you.'

'I forgive you,' Hermione said with a smile, 'but if there is a next time, try and think of something better than owl flu.'

* * *

'Theo!' Draco called as he walked into his best friend's sitting room.

'Hey Draco,' Theo said as he emerged from the entrance hall.

'Did you see the paper yesterday?' Draco asked with a sigh.

'Yeah, it seemed like a pretty personal attack,' Theo said as he sat down on the sofa, 'was Hermione alright?'

'She's pissed like hell, but she'll be okay,' Draco said with a chuckle, 'I tried to hide the papers from her, I didn't think it would be good for the baby if she got really stressed or upset.'

'That reminds me, I actually need to talk to you about something,' Theo began awkwardly.

Draco frowned and felt guilty as he noticed how stressed and pale his friend looked, 'What's up Theo?'

'Well you're going to be a Godfather in about 8 months, if you agree,' Theo admitted sheepishly.

'What?' Draco asked in complete disbelief.

'And,' Theo continued, 'will you be my best man?'

'Theo…what the hell?' Draco was completely dumbfounded by his best friend which didn't happen often because they knew each other very well generally.

Theo sighed, 'It's complicated.'

'Then explain,' Draco said simply.

'I sort of slept with Sophie,' Theo said quietly, 'the night of your wedding actually…and she told me last week that she's a month pregnant.'

'Seriously?' Draco asked in disbelief, 'I would have thought you would be more careful.'

'I am generally,' Theo said heavily, 'but we were both really drunk.'

'Yeah, I remember,' Draco remarked, 'so you've proposed to her because she's pregnant?'

'What else am I supposed to do? The Nott family needs an heir anyway, and it might as well be a legitimate one,' Theo said with a shrug.

Draco shook his head in disgust, 'Theo you're my best friend but you sound like a prejudiced asshole. A baby isn't just an heir, it's a child to love and care for. You better be serious about this.'

'What do you think of me?' Theo asked with a sigh, 'if even my best friend thinks so lowly of me then no wonder Sophie doesn't think I'm cut out for being a Father.'

'Well think about what you just said,' Draco said as he raised an eyebrow, 'treat the baby like it's a real thing, not just an heir. You have a lot to think about, I didn't think you even wanted kids.'

'I've always wanted kids,' Theo admitted, 'I may hate the idea of marriage but I've always wanted kids, I just didn't think anyone would be stupid enough to have one with me.'

'Do you actually care about Sophie?' Draco asked with a frown.

'Why do you think I've taken her to every event I've been invited to in the last 7 years?' Theo said with a frown.

'I did wonder,' Draco admitted with a slight smile, 'but if you've liked her for all of this time why have you never acted on it?'

'I didn't know how to,' Theo admitted with a sigh, 'she's been my friend for so long that I've been stuck in that dreaded friend-zone.'

Draco chuckled, 'How did she react when she woke up in your bed?'

'She freaked out at first,' Theo said with a slight smile, 'she said she couldn't believe she'd let herself become one of my conquests.'

'And is she just a conquest?' Draco asked curiously.

Theo shook his head, 'When I first woke up I thought she was, but now it's more than that.'

'What has actually happened between you two since my wedding?' Draco asked in amusement.

'Well, she ran away and then came to talk me in my lab a week later,' Theo began, 'and we kissed and it got awkward when she asked what we were and I couldn't answer. After that things were so awkward we didn't see each other until last week when she told me she was pregnant.'

'And how did she react when you proposed?' Draco asked.

'Well I didn't really propose,' Theo admitted sheepishly, 'I just sort of said that we needed to get married so the baby wasn't a bastard.'

'And let me guess she didn't react well to that,' Draco said as he shook his head in disbelief at how clueless Theo was.

'She agreed but then she said I wasn't fit to be a Father and she'd only marry me if I could prove that I was mature enough,' Theo finished.

'Well good luck with that,' Draco said with a snort.

'What am I supposed to do Draco?' Theo asked helplessly, 'you're a Dad, help me.'

Draco placed his hand on his friends shoulder, 'I hate to say it, but you just need to grow up a little. You need to figure out if you actually like Sophie and if you do tell her that. Then you need to realise that fairly soon you're going to be a Father and a lot of responsibilities come with that. I know you can do it, I've seen how you are with Scorp, and I know deep down Sophie does too but how is she going to believe you're responsible if you don't believe it yourself?'

'Okay,' Theo said seriously, 'I've got a wedding to plan.'

Draco chuckled and patted his friend on the back, 'That's the spirit.'

* * *

'Mummy, when is the baby going to be here?' Rose asked as she cocked her head at her Mother.

'Rose, Dad already said that babies take 9 months,' Scorpius said from where he was lying on the sofa reading a book.

'Draco isn't my Daddy, is he Mummy?' Rose asked sadly as she looked at Hermione.

'No,' Hermione said honestly, 'your Daddy is far away, but Draco can be your Daddy if you want him to be.'

Rose frowned slightly as she tried to work this out, Scorpius piped up, 'I don't mind sharing my Dad with you Rose.'

'That's nice Scorp,' Hermione said as she smiled at the little boy. It was one of their days off from tutoring so she was looking after them while Draco spent the afternoon with Theo.

'You can share my Mummy with me Scorpius,' Rose said matter of factly, 'I don't think she will be angry.'

Hermione chuckled and said, 'Of course I'm not angry.'

Scorpius smiled, 'Thank you Hermione, you're a good Mum.'

At this Hermione got a little teary, 'That's sweet of you to say Scorp, thank you.'

Scorpius merely smiled and then there was a knock at the door, 'I'll be back in a minute,' she said as she walked to the door and pulled it open.

'Sophie!' Hermione said in surprise, 'are you here for Draco? He's actually over at Theo's at the moment.'

'I'm not here for Draco,' Sophie said as she bit her lip. Hermione frowned, she didn't know Sophie very well but she always seemed so confident, 'I wanted to talk to you Hermione.'

'Okay,' Hermione said, trying not to let her confusion show as she stepped back from the door, 'come in.'

Sophie walked into the entrance hall and Hermione said, 'hold on just a moment,' she walked briskly to the sitting room and popped her head in with a smile, 'I'm just going to be talking to Sophie in the drawing room if you need me.'

'Okay Mummy!' Rose said with a smile, Scorpius didn't even look up from his book.

Hermione then led Sophie into the sitting room and they both sat down in the comfortable chairs by the fire, 'no offence Sophie, but we don't really know each other all that well so I must admit, I'm surprised that you want to talk to me.'

'Well I didn't really know who else to talk to,' Sophie admitted with a sigh, 'and you'll find out soon enough from Draco anyway…' she trailed off and Hermione frowned in confusion but said nothing.

'I'm pregnant,' Sophie said with a sigh, 'and Theo is the Father.'

Hermione wasn't as surprised as Draco had been upon hearing this news, she merely smiled slightly and said, 'it happened after my wedding I assume?'

Sophie nodded with a slight frown, 'we were both so drunk…I woke up in his bed the next morning and ran for it. If I had been a Gryffindor I might have stayed.'

'Not all Gryffindors are courageous,' Hermione said as she thought of Peter Pettigrew, 'and not all Slytherins are cowards,' she added as her mind drifted towards Severus Snape.

'That's very philosophical and Dumbledore of you,' Sophie said sarcastically, 'but in all seriousness I have no idea how to deal with this.'

'And you came to me for advice?' Hermione asked in amusement.

'Well,' Sophie said as she caught Hermione's eye, 'you got pregnant out of wedlock and then you married Draco, and you're both so happy.'

'You have to have feelings for the person for that to work,' Hermione said with a slight smile, 'I loved Draco and I wanted to marry him anyway, things were just sped up because of the baby. If you have that foundation of love then you'll always find a way to be happy.'

Sophie was frowning, 'I do love Theo,' she admitted, 'Merlin I've loved him since I was about 14 years old but then his Mother died in 4th year and he just lost it a bit…he went completely off the rails, dating a different girl every week,' she sighed, 'I didn't want to become a conquest so I got stuck as his best friend.'

'I know the feeling,' Hermione admitted with a chuckle, 'You may not have been a part of Pansy's gang at school, but surely even you knew about my friendship with my first husband Ron.'

'Well it was obvious he had a thing for you from like 2nd year,' Sophie said with a smirk.

'Yet I didn't really start to realise those feelings until 6th year, but by then I was well and truly his best friend and becoming more took time,' Hermione said, 'if you want to give things a real shot with Theo you're going to have to overcome the barrier of friendship and trust me, that can be hard.'

'Yeah but you and Weasley got divorced,' Sophie said, 'that's not exactly encouraging for me, is it?'

'That's the point, if you want it enough you'll hold onto it with everything you have,' Hermione said.

'He proposed to me,' Sophie added as she showed Hermione a diamond ring on her finger, 'I said yes.'

Hermione frowned, 'Did he only propose because of the baby?'

'I think so, he said if he was going to have an heir it might as well be a legitimate one,' Sophie said sadly.

Hermione shook her head in disgust, 'I'm sure there's more to it than that. You know Theo he acts and speaks first then thinks about what he's said later.'

'I know,' Sophie sighed, 'I told him I'd marry him if he could prove he was mature enough for it.'

'He will,' Hermione said with a smile, 'he can be responsible and serious when he needs to be, and you've seen him with Scorpius, he'll be a great Father.'

'He will be,' Sophie said softly, 'but he needs to grow up a little first.'

'I think all men grow up a little when they are preparing for their first baby,' Hermione said gently, 'he'll pull through.'

'Thank you Hermione,' Sophie said with a small smile, 'you didn't have to do this, I'm a Slytherin who hung around with the people who bullied you at school.'

'I married the person who bullied me at school,' Hermione pointed out with a smirk, 'I don't hold grudges.'

'A very noble, Gryffindor trait,' Sophie said with a chuckle.

Hermione laughed, 'Yes, I suppose it is. Although my best friends are all Gryffindors and hold grudges for _years_.'

Sophie smiled as she got to her feet, 'Thanks anyway.'

'Don't worry about it,' Hermione said as she too got to her feet, 'and for what it's worth Sophie, I'm fairly certain your feelings for Theo are returned,' she smiled, 'I saw you two at the wedding.'

Sophie smiled back, 'I hope so,' she said simply.

**TBC :)  
**


	17. The Half-Blood Princess

**The War is Over**

**Chapter 17 - The Half-Blood Princess  
**

'Draco can you stop pacing and help Scorp tie his laces?' Hermione asked in exasperation as she tried to get two excited kids ready to go out all the while being 6 months pregnant.

'Sorry,' Draco said as he stopped pacing the sitting room and knelt down to tie Scorpius's laces, 'I'm just nervous.'

Hermione rolled her eyes, 'You have nothing to be nervous about,' she said for the umpteenth time that morning.

Draco sighed as he zipped up Scorpius's coat, 'I know Harry and I are getting on alright now, but the rest of your Gryffindor lot hate me.'

'Stop being immature!' Hermione snapped, 'Rose, Scorp, wait by the door.'

Rose and Scorpius were intuitive kids, they knew when to do as they were told so they left the sitting room.

'I'm not being immature Hermione,' Draco said in an undertone, 'this is your life, your friends, I don't belong in it!'

'Well you married me so you're a part of it whether you like it or not,' Hermione said as she glared at Draco, 'it's just a bloody birthday party!'

'Merlin why are you in such a rotten mood?' Draco asked in annoyance, 'it might not be a big deal to you Hermione but I'll be seeing people whose family are dead because of my family today! Forgive me if I'm a _little _nervous!'

'I thought Slytherins were supposed to be fearless,' Hermione said snarkily as she put her coat on.

'I really hope this is the hormones talking because you're being a bitch,' Draco remarked.

Hermione sighed heavily, 'I'm sorry,' she said, 'I feel like my emotions are all over the place right now.'

'I'll forgive you,' Draco said with a faint smile, 'but once you've had the baby you'll have no excuses.'

'Apart from exhaustion,' Hermione said with a chuckle as she slipped her hand into Draco's and they joined Rose and Scorpius in the entrance hall.

* * *

When the family apparated to the doorstep of Grimmauld Place Draco looked like he might break out in a nervous sweat. Hermione rolled her eyes and knocked on the door which was opened immediately by Harry.

'Hey Hermione,' he said brightly as he kissed her on the cheek, 'Draco,' he added as he shook the man's hand.

'Happy birthday Harry,' Hermione said with a smile as they followed him through the house to the back garden.

Harry, Hermione and Draco didn't get to talk much because Rose and Scorpius were too busy chattering away to him.

'Wow,' Hermione said as they walked out in the back garden which had been transformed. The garden was large with its own Quidditch pitch. There were tables of food laid out and signs everywhere saying 'HAPPY BIRTHDAY HARRY' on them, they looked as if they had been written by the kids.

Harry chuckled, 'Ginny's work,' he said and Hermione laughed as Rose and Scorpius took off at a sprint for a large magical bouncy castle that was in the shape and design of Hogwarts.

'A very pureblood party,' Draco remarked with a smirk, 'the only sign that it isn't is the amount of red hair.'

'Oh behave,' Hermione hushed as Harry chuckled.

'It's true, there are a lot of Weasley's here,' a familiar voice said from nearby.

Draco frowned and turned to his right where he saw Theo wearing a smirk, Sophie was by his side which made Draco smile, 'Theo, what are you doing here?'

'Potter invited me,' Theo said smoothly, 'I told him to be careful, people might think he actually likes me.'

Harry chuckled, 'You're growing on me, besides I thought Draco needed some Slytherin reinforcement or else he'd be overwhelmed by all the Gryffindors here.'

'Merlin that's true,' Draco said with an amused side glance to Hermione, 'nice to see you Sophie,' he said with a glint in his eye.

Sophie rolled her eyes at Draco, 'I know you know Draco, you don't have to try and be cryptic about it. After all I think everyone here knows how good you are at that,' she said sarcastically which made Harry and Theo snigger.

'I don't know what Draco knows but I sense it's none of my business so I'm gonna go eat some food,' Harry said with a chuckle as he made his way over to one of the tables.

'I'm glad you two worked things out,' Hermione said to Theo and Sophie once Harry was gone.

Sophie smiled, 'We haven't worked things out yet, but we're getting there.'

'That's great,' Draco said as he patted Theo on the back, 'I'm happy for you.'

Theo smiled rather proudly, 'Thanks Draco, that means a lot.'

'Sophie,' Hermione said with a slight smirk, 'are you thinking what I'm thinking?'

Sophie chuckled and said, 'I'm thinking there's a table over there filled with cakes and sweet stuff.'

'I think we should approach it,' Hermione said and Draco and Theo watched in amusement as the two women made a beeline for the sweet table.

'Bloody hell,' Theo said, 'she's only 2 months pregnant.'

'Good luck,' Draco said as he patted his friend once more on the back and sniggered somewhat evilly.

* * *

'So,' Harry said as he approached Theo and Draco, 'what's the deal with Sophie?'

'None of your business,' Draco remarked with a smirk.

'Aw come on,' Harry said with a grin, 'her and Hermione have been pigging out on the sweets for about 15 minutes. What's the deal?'

'Nothing,' Theo replied quickly.

'You're a terrible liar,' Harry chuckled, 'she's pregnant isn't she?'

Theo glanced around to make sure no one could overhear them and then he nodded, 'which reminds me Potter, can you be a groomsman again?'

Harry raised an eyebrow at Theo, 'seriously?'

'Theo sort of had a one night stand with Sophie who is now pregnant and who he is also engaged to,' Draco explained in short with an amused glint in his eye.

'And you want me to be your groomsman?' Harry asked in disbelief, 'don't you have any friends?'

'Not really,' Theo said honestly but with a hint of amusement, 'Draco is pretty much my only friend.'

Harry chuckled, still in slight disbelief he said, 'Sure, I'll do it. Oh and congratulations.'

'Thanks Potter,' Theo said, a proud smile coming to his face as he glanced back to Sophie.

'You're doing the right thing,' Draco said as he smiled at his best friend, 'I know sometimes it doesn't feel like it, but you're doing the right thing.'

'So are you,' Theo said with a slight smile towards Draco, 'I can see your doubts sometimes. I know you love Hermione but she's so Gryffindor, and so war heroine, I can tell that freaks you out a bit. But for what it's worth, I think you're doing the right thing too.'

Draco chuckled and shook his head, 'Well, that must count for something then,' he said as he averted his eyes towards Hermione, 'It's kind of crazy, how quick it went from a family of 2 to a family of 4, and there will be 5 soon.'

'Don't complain,' Theo remarked, 'you always said you wanted more kids.'

'I know,' Draco said with a smirk, 'and I wasn't complaining, just expressing my surprise at how quickly things can change.'

'I think we're going to have a girl,' Theo said thoughtfully, 'I just have a feeling.'

'I think it will be another boy,' Draco mused as he glanced once more at Hermione, 'boys tend to run in my family.'

The two friends had their conversation cut short when Harry announced from the Quidditch pitch that it was time to get teams together. Leaving their partners at the sweet table they sauntered over to the pitch where the captains were Harry and Charlie Weasley. They were just about to begin picking their team members when the two friends arrived at the pitch.

'Draco, Theo, you two want to play?' Harry called over to them.

Draco replied, 'Yeah, sure!'

Theo merely shrugged and said, 'Why not?'

Harry smirked and said, 'I'll be seeker, Nev, wanna be keeper?'

Neville smiled and stepped forward to join Harry, 'Sure.'

'Alright, I'll be seeker too,' Charlie said as he appointed Kingsley, the former Minister for Magic as his Keeper. Harry then picked Dean and Seamus as his beaters and Charlie picked his brothers Bill and George. Harry then chose his wife to be a Chaser, along with Luna and a friend he knew from work. Surprisingly Charlie picked Theo and Draco as chasers, along with Susan Bones who Draco worked with at St. Mungo's. With the teams together Arthur Weasley volunteered to be referee and the game began.

* * *

As the men, and some of the women, played Quidditch most of the wives, fiancés and girlfriends talked in the small spectator section of the grand Quidditch pitch. Hermione and Sophie were discussing pregnancy with Bill's wife Fleur and George's wife Angelina. The kids were at the front of the stands watching the Quidditch game avidly.

'Rose, stay back from the edge,' Hermione said as she kept an eye on Rose and Scorpius.

'Is it a handful? Having two the same age?' Fleur asked with a slight smile.

Hermione shook her head fondly, 'Not at all, sometimes I have to have eyes everywhere but they're both so well behaved most of the time. It will be harder try to watch the baby and keep an eye on them.'

Fleur chuckled and said, 'when I had Dominique it was like that, Victoire was only a toddler and trying to keep them both in check was stressful.'

'I know how you feel,' Angelina said fondly as she looked to her two children who were standing next to Rose, Scorpius and Albus, 'Fred was only 1 and a half when Roxanne was born. Never mind how many eyes you need, it was all I could do to stop him annoying her. He was so jealous.'

'I'm glad that Rose and Scorp are that little bit older,' Hermione admitted, 'they can entertain themselves quite well so I shouldn't have to run about after them all the time. I hope they won't be jealous of the baby.'

'You can't guess about these things until it happens,' Angelina said with a knowing smile.

Hermione nodded, her eyes on her daughter and the boy she considered as a son, 'Draco and I do worry about it. Scorp knows I'm not his real Mother obviously, and Rose knows Draco isn't her Father. We worry about them getting jealous because this baby has us both as its blood parents.'

'I understand why you worry Hermione,' Sophie cut in with a smile, 'but I don't think you need to fear anything. Rose and Scorp are both just excited for a little brother or sister to play with.'

Hermione smiled back at Sophie and nodded, 'Are you nervous yet?'

'A little,' Sophie admitted sheepishly, 'but I expect it won't really hit me for a few months yet.'

'I was like that with Victoire,' Fleur said with a smile, 'I was so calm until I was 6 months pregnant then I realised how soon it would be until she arrived and how much I had to do.'

Angelina chuckled and said, 'I was nervous from day one when we found out about Fred, ironically enough I got calmer as things went on.'

'I wasn't really worried at all when I found out I was pregnant with Rose,' Hermione admitted with a smile as she glanced at her daughter, 'I was just so excited, even if I did have to go through a lot of the pregnancy alone.'

'Ron wasn't really there at all,' Angelina recalled with a sad expression on her face.

Hermione shrugged, 'I don't think he ever really wanted to get married and have kids. It was just what seemed right after the war so like a sheep he followed what everyone else was doing. Harry came with me to most of my appointments when I was pregnant with Rose, I think Ron only came to one.'

'And let me guess, Draco hasn't missed one?' Sophie asked with a smirk.

'He hasn't,' Hermione said with a smile, 'he's even taken holiday time just to get the half an hour off work to come with me.'

'They say being a good Father begins before the baby is born,' Fleur said with a smile, 'you're lucky Hermione.'

'I am,' Hermione said with a soft smile as she looked out onto the Quidditch pitch to see Draco waving at her with a smile on his face. She was glad that even after the fuss of that morning Draco appeared to be enjoying himself.

* * *

There was chaos in the gardens of Grimmauld Place. After the game of Quidditch, at which Harry's team had won, Ginny had brought out the cake and Harry had blown out the candles. The day was coming to a close as everyone ate cake and mingled.

Hermione had her eyes peeled for Rose and Scorpius who she hadn't seen for 5 or 10 minutes which usually meant they were up to something.

As Hermione pondered what on earth the children could have gotten up to this time there was a loud pop and Harry was turned into a large canary. There was a bout of laughter from all around, even Hermione chuckled as he hopped about for 5 minutes until the effects wore off.

Standing trying to conceal themselves not far behind Harry, who was now human again, were Rose, Scorpius and Albus, Hermione shook her head in amusement and made a mental note to tell them off later. But it was just as this thought crossed her mind that she saw Draco and Theo walk over to the children looking angry, Harry followed with a slight frown.

'That was very dangerous,' Draco said angrily when he reached the trio, 'I understand that you just wanted to play a joke, but Rose, Scorpius, your Mother is pregnant. If she had eaten one of those things it could have hurt the baby, just like it could have hurt Aunt Sophie's baby.'

'You need to be more careful when you play pranks like these,' Theo reiterated to Rose and Scorpius, 'somebody could have been hurt then it wouldn't have been funny.'

'I'm sorry,' Rose said as her eyes welled up with tears, 'I didn't want to hurt Mummy or the baby.'

'Neither did I Dad,' Scorpius said looking incredibly guilty.

'You didn't,' Draco assured them as he gave the kids a hug, 'but all I am saying is you must be more careful in the future. Alright?'

'Draco and Theo are right Al,' Harry said as he materialized behind the group, 'pranks are fun as long as they are harmless. You remember I taught you that?'

Albus nodded, also looking guilty, 'I didn't want to hurt anyone Dad.'

'You didn't this time, but listen to what Draco said. In the future you be more careful, you promise?' Harry asked his son seriously.

Albus nodded and said, 'I promise Dad.'

'On you go then,' Draco said to Rose and Scorpius as he got to his feet, 'say goodbye to everyone, we're going home soon. Your Mums very tired.'

Rose and Scorpius nodded and both rushed off, Albus ran after them.

'Did you notice you referred to Hermione as their Mother?' Harry asked Draco with interest as they watched the kids saying goodbye to the other children.

Draco frowned and replied, 'Honestly, I didn't realise, but Hermione is Scorpius's Mother in every sense but blood.'

'Just like you're Rose's Father in every sense but blood,' Harry said with a slight smile, 'and take it from me. You're a far better Father to her than her biological one ever was.'

'Thanks Harry,' Draco said with a smile, 'that means a lot coming from you.'

Harry merely shrugged and said, 'Thanks for coming today Draco,' as he made his way over to Hermione and Ginny.

'What was that?' Hermione asked, gesturing to where Harry, Theo and Draco had been talking to the kids.

'That was just the children getting a gentle reminder that pranks can be harmful,' Harry replied honestly, 'Draco and Theo were worried that if you or Sophie had eaten the canary cream it might have been harmful to your babies.'

'Oh,' Hermione said thoughtfully.

'It makes you wonder though, doesn't it?' Ginny said with a smile, 'watching those three I wonder if they're going to be as close as you two and Ron were.'

'Perhaps,' Hermione said as she looked at the trio, 'but I think its more appropriate to say they're mini Marauders.'

Harry chuckled at this and nodded, 'Yes, I think it would be very appropriate to call them that.'

* * *

After Harry's birthday August marched on and Hermione got more frustrated the larger her bump got. Moving at all hurt and she could hardly do anything which she wasn't well suited too. Because everything hurt of all the time she was grumpier and she knew that Draco was just as anxious as she was for the baby to be born.

As August began to rapidly fly by Hermione and Draco started the preparations for the baby.

'What room do you think we should decorate for the baby?' Draco asked one morning on the second week of August.

Hermione frowned slightly, 'I'm not sure,' she said, 'it is kind of your house after all.'

'Our house,' Draco corrected, 'you live here too.'

Hermione smiled and said, 'Yes, but you know what I mean. I don't think I know it well enough to make that decision.'

'I think one of the bedrooms opposite of our room would be best,' Draco mused, 'I know there are the rooms on the opposite side of Rose and Scorpius's but I'd rather have the baby closer than that.'

'I wouldn't feel comfortable with that,' Hermione admitted, 'I don't like it as it is that Rose and Scorpius are in the other wing of the house. If anything happened to them we would have to go down the stairs to the entrance hall and up on the other side.'

Draco frowned and said, 'No, of course we wouldn't. The portrait of my Grandfather opposite the door of our bedroom takes you straight into the other wing of the house. You just need to say the password.'

Hermione raised an eyebrow at her husband, 'and you're only telling me this now?'

'Sorry,' Draco said with a sheepish smile, 'sometimes I forget you've never lived in a wizarding house before. The password is St. Mungo's, by the way.'

Hermione shook her head in amusement, 'the baby will be in our room at first anyway, won't it?'

Draco frowned and replied, 'Scorpius had his own bedroom from the moment we brought him home.'

'Who watched over him?' Hermione asked.

'Astoria and I,' Draco replied, still looking confused.

'Well then how did you know he was crying if he wasn't in your room?' Hermione asked, completely not understanding how this had worked.

It only dawned on Draco's face then that Hermione didn't know the pureblood style of raising a child, 'Oh, I forgot, you're a Muggle-born. We ask the Healer to place a charm that alerts us if the baby needs anything or is in trouble. It works as a mental bond so that if the baby needs something we'll wake up and know it needs fed or changed.'

'Okay,' Hermione said as she wrapped her head around that, 'first of all, how can you forget I'm a Muggle-born? And secondly I'm not sure I want to do that Draco,' she admitted after a moment, 'it feels cold and wrong…I'd rather have the baby in a small cot in our room for the first little while…'

Draco nodded, he was open to changes, 'So you want to leave the baby room for the moment?'

'No, of course not,' Hermione said with a smile, 'we can still get it ready, and we can use it for changing the baby and dressing it. I just think having it in our room for the first few months would be better.'

'It would be easier for us,' Draco said with a smile, 'don't worry Hermione. I'm not my Father, I'm not set in my ways.'

Hermione smiled at this, 'I know you're not Draco, I just sometimes forget quite how differently the wizarding world does things, even with babies.'

'You'll get used to it,' Draco assured his wife, 'eventually things in the wizarding world will just become the norm.'

'Does it bother you?' Hermione asked, it was something that she worried about often, 'the fact that I want to do things in a Muggle way sometimes?'

'No,' Draco replied honestly, 'I love you Hermione, nothing's going to change that. Sometimes I'll agree with you that the Muggle way makes sense, but there will be times when I'll want to stick to the wizarding way. I hope you understand that.'

'I do,' Hermione said simply with a smile.

* * *

'This would be so much easier if we knew whether it was going to be a girl or a boy,' Draco said from where he was standing on a step ladder painting the room a neutral pale yellow.

'I want a brother,' Scorpius said from where he was sitting on the floor with a paintbrush helping.

'I want a sister!' Rose said from the other side of the room where she was doing the same thing.

Hermione chuckled from where she was sitting watching the others paint the room. She had helped by levitating all the furniture out so the painting could begin, 'I'm sure you will both love the baby whether it's a boy or a girl.'

'Well yes,' Scorpius said matter of factly, 'but a boy would be better.'

'A girl would be better!' Rose exclaimed as she flicked some paint at Scorpius who in return flicked some paint back at the girl.

Hermione laughed at the two children as this continued and Draco rolled his eyes from the top of the ladder, 'Scorp, stop flicking paint at your sister.'

Hermione watched the reactions to such a simple sentence. Scorpius did stop flicking paint at Rose but Rose herself paused to consider what had just been said.

'Do you mind sweetheart?' Hermione asked her daughter, 'Scorpius is your step-brother now after all.'

'I don't mind Mummy,' Rose said with a broad smile, 'I wanted a brother!'

'I know you did,' Hermione said with a smile.

'I guess having a sister won't be too bad,' Scorpius reasoned as he looked from Rose to Hermione's bump, 'but I still want the baby to be a boy.'

Hermione laughed and said, 'Yes Scorp, I know you want a boy.'

* * *

As August drew to a close the room for the baby was completely ready and all that was left to do now was to wait until the baby decided to come along. Hermione was growing increasingly impatient as she reached the 7 month mark.

'I'm fed up of not being able to do anything,' Hermione complained as she walked backwards and forwards in the drawing room. It was the last Saturday of August and Draco was off work today.

'I know, but on the bright side it won't be long now,' Draco said with a smile to his wife.

Hermione sighed, 'I know,' she said, 'but I think I've explored every nook and cranny of this house. I just get so bored all day with nothing to do.'

'I know you do,' Draco said, kissing her on the cheek, 'have you finished all of your lesson plans?'

'I've finished everything relating to my work at Hogwarts later in the year,' Hermione said with a sigh, 'I'm just so bored Draco.'

'We'll go out for a walk in the gardens in half an hour or so,' Draco promised his wife, 'I just need to finish off this paperwork.'

'Alright,' Hermione said with a smile as she got to her feet, 'I'm going for a walk through the house.'

'Be careful,' Draco called as Hermione exited the drawing room and made her way upstairs. She wandered around the house often when she was bored, looking for secret passages and having interesting conversations with the portraits lining the walls. Malfoy Manor scared her in some ways, but in a lot of ways she liked it because it reminded her of Hogwarts. There were a lot of secret passageways hidden behind portraits and tapestries. Draco had once told her that if she looked close enough she'd probably find that most of the rooms in the house were connected by some sort of passage. As she walked along one of the corridors she casually ran her hand along the wall, passing over the closed doors of the rooms she knew to be spare bedrooms.

When she reached the end of the corridor she stopped in front of the door to Lucius's study. Draco had always told her not to go in there, but she had never even checked to see if it was locked. Without thinking about the possibilities or consequences she reached out for the handle and grasped it in her right hand.

Before Hermione even knew what was happening there was a flash of light and an invisible force threw her hard into the opposite wall. As she slid down the wall and tried to get her breath back Hermione heard feet thumping up the stairs. She gasped in air, the blow had winded her.

'Hermione!'

She couldn't even call out Draco's name as he ran to her and dropped down on his knees next to her, 'what's happening?'

Hermione caught her breath and cried out as she felt a sharp pain in her stomach that she recognised all too well, 'I think the baby might be coming,' she gasped.

'What?' Draco said in shock, 'No, it can't, Hermione it's 2 months early!'

'I'm aware of that Draco,' Hermione said through gritted teeth, 'but whatever that door did to me has obviously started it.'

Draco followed Hermione's line of sight towards the door and swallowed hard, 'did it throw you against the wall?'

Hermione nodded and Draco asked, 'Where did it hit you?'

'I don't know,' Hermione replied as she tried to breathe through her pain, 'in the chest, I think.'

Draco nodded, and Hermione cried out in pain again, 'Draco, I swear these are contractions.'

'Are you sure? They might be false contractions,' Draco suggested.

'They're real,' Hermione said with a dark look towards Draco.

'How do you know?' Draco asked frantically.

'Because my waters just broke,' Hermione said as she glanced to the wet puddle on the floor.

'Really?'

'Really!' Hermione snapped, 'Draco, you are not supposed to be this calm!'

'Sorry,' Draco said as he helped Hermione to her feet, 'we should get to St. Mungo's.'

'How long will that take?' Hermione asked as she gritted her teeth once more in pain.

'Uh by the time the Healers get here…half an hour maybe,' Draco replied calmly as he wrapped his arm around Hermione to help her walk down the corridor, 'we'll just send the kids through to Harry and-'

'Draco!' Hermione explained as she keeled over in pain, 'we don't have half an hour!'

'Of course we do, labour usually lasts around 3 hours Hermione,' Draco said, again nonplussed by what was happening.

'Really?' Hermione asked incredibly sarcastically, 'because I was in labour for an hour with Rose! I barely got to the hospital in time!'

Draco swallowed, visibly nervous now, 'Alright, I'll check before we go anywhere,' he said quickly as he swiftly lifted Hermione up and took her into their bedroom where he placed her gently on the bed.

'Do you mind me doing this?' Draco asked as he conjured up a hospital gown and transfigured it onto Hermione.

'I don't care, just check things are okay please,' Hermione begged, 'something doesn't feel right,' she frowned as the sweat dripped off of her.

Draco was silent and this worried Hermione even more, 'Draco, what's wrong?' she asked as her heart began to beat faster.

'You were right, we don't have time to get to St. Mungo's,' Draco said as he looked into her eyes, 'I can see the baby's head.'

Hermione groaned and threw her head back against the pillows as the pain seared through her body again.

'Dad…' Scorpius called from outside the closed door.

Draco glanced to Hermione, 'give me two seconds,' he said as he rushed to the door and opened it by a crack.

'Dad, what's wrong?' Scorpius asked with a worried frown.

'Scorp, Hermione is having the baby now. I need you to do me a favor alright? I need you to floo Grimmauld Place and ask Ginny to come here. Can you do that for me?' Draco asked, his heart was beating out of his chest but he was trying to stay calm.

Scorpius nodded and rushed down the stairs. Draco took a deep breath and shut the door, he made his way back over to Hermione who was groaning in pain.

'How are you doing?' Draco asked Hermione as he conjured a wet cloth and placed it on her forehead.

'How do you _think_ I'm doing?' Hermione hissed.

'It's going to be quick,' Draco said as he glanced to where he could see the baby's head, 'and I need you to start pushing.'

'Have you ever delivered a baby before?' Hermione asked through her pain.

'Hermione, I work in the pediatrics ward of St. Mungo's,' Draco pointed out, 'it's my job to deliver babies.'

'Right,' Hermione said as she cried in pain again.

'You know the deal, you've done this before. Push with the contractions, okay?' Draco spoke to her calmly but he was scared as hell. He had only ever delivered a few babies in the field when he had been a trauma surgeon, but he was hardly going to tell Hermione that.

Hermione nodded and with the next contraction she pushed and was remarkably collected, she groaned loudly in pain but she didn't shriek or beg for the baby to be out like a lot of women did.

'Good,' Draco said as he supported the baby's head, 'you're doing great Hermione.'

The next 10 minutes felt like hours as Hermione pushed and Draco encouraged her. All the while getting a lot of abuse, but he had expected that. Astoria had been incredibly calm and composed during her labour with Scorpius, Draco had known from the start that Hermione wouldn't be that way.

'Draco, please tell me this baby is nearly out,' Hermione said sounding exhausted after the 10th push in as many minutes.

'A few more pushes,' Draco promised as he reached up and grabbed Hermione's hand, 'I know you can do it.'

Hermione nodded and with the next contraction pushed with all of her might. She had never been as relieved as she was in that moment when she heard a sharp cry.

Draco swiftly cut the cord and wrapped the baby in a blanket before holding it up to Hermione, 'a girl,' he said as he handed the beautiful little girl to her Mother.

Hermione couldn't stop smiling as she looked down at the baby, 'she's perfect.'

'She seems perfectly healthy,' Draco remarked as a knock sounded on the bedroom door. He crossed the room and opened it to find an anxious Ginny holding a small medical kit. Her jaw dropped when she saw Hermione holding a tiny baby.

'There was an accident, and Hermione went into labour early,' Draco explained as Ginny shut the door and crossed the room to the bed.

'Is everything okay?' Ginny asked as she looked at the tears on Hermione's face.

'Fine,' Draco said with a smile, 'I think those are tears of relief and happiness.'

'Hermione,' Ginny said softly to her friend, 'do you mind if I check the baby over?'

'No, no, of course not,' Hermione said as she passed the little girl to Ginny, 'in fact I'd feel better if you did.'

'I heard there was an accident,' Ginny said as she conjured up a small crib and placed the baby into it as she did her standard charms to check everything was okay with the baby.

'I touched a door that had a charm on it and it threw me back into the wall,' Hermione explained.

'Are you alright?' Ginny asked with a worried glance to her friend.

'I'm fine, but I'll let you check me over too if it will put your mind at ease,' Hermione said as she yawned with exhaustion.

'It will put my mind at ease,' Ginny said with a smile, 'and I think it will put Draco's at ease too.'

Draco smiled weakly from where he sat next to Hermione on the bed, his hand in hers, 'is it that obvious?'

'You look like you're about to pass out,' Ginny remarked as she finished her checks on the baby and wrapped it up once more.

'I did just deliver my own child,' Draco pointed out as Ginny handed Hermione her baby back, 'well you have a perfectly healthy 6 pound girl. She's smaller than a baby born at full term would be, but she should grow at a normal pace and like I said she's perfectly healthy.'

'Good,' Hermione said softly as she looked at her little girl. She had blue eyes and fair hair, 'she looks like you,' Hermione said to Draco.

'Her eyes might change,' Draco pointed out.

'Maybe,' Hermione said as she studied her little girl, 'but I don't think that they will.'

Ginny smiled at the couple as she sat down next to Hermione and ran a couple of standard charms, 'alright, my mind is at ease. You're perfectly healthy,' she said as she took a potion from her medical kit, 'but this is for the pain.'

'Thanks Gin,' Hermione said with a smile.

'Congratulations,' Ginny said happily, 'I'll leave the happy family alone for the moment.'

'Could you send Rose and Scorp up on your way out?' Draco asked and Ginny nodded, 'of course I will,' she said as she left the room, closing the door behind her.

'So what are we going to call her?' Hermione asked Draco as she looked down to the little girl in her arms. She was small but she was still adorable as she stared up at Hermione with her big blue eyes and waved her little hand about.

'Cassiopeia?' Draco suggested.

'Draco,' Hermione said with an exasperated sigh, 'I will not name my child after a star sign.'

'It's sort of a family tradition,' Draco said with a wry smile, 'and it's a constellation actually.'

'Can't we give her a normal name? How about Primrose?' Hermione suggested as she looked down to the girl.

'Primrose? You call that normal? What is it with you naming your children after bloody flowers anyway?' Draco retorted, offended that Hermione thought naming children after star signs was stupid.

'Draco!' Hermione scolded, 'don't swear in front of the baby!'

'Sorry,' Draco whispered as he looked upon his daughter, 'she looks like a Cassiopeia…Cassie for short.'

'Won't Rose feel like the odd one out if we call the baby Cassiopeia?' Hermione asked as she bit her lip anxiously.

'I don't see why she would,' Draco mused, 'Scorp, Rose and Cassie. I think that sounds perfectly natural.'

'Hmm,' Hermione said as she looked upon her daughters beautiful face, 'she does look like a Cassie.'

'So it's decided?' Draco asked excitedly.

Hermione smiled and nodded, 'Cassiopeia Malfoy.'

Before they could talk anymore about the new baby's name the door burst open and Rose and Scorpius rushed into the bedroom. They both stopped and stared when they saw the baby.

'Rose, Scorp,' Hermione said with a smile to the children, 'meet your little sister Cassie.'

'Cassiopeia,' Draco mumbled under his breath.

'Aw,' Scorpius said looking incredibly disappointed, 'it's a girl?'

Rose grinned and jumped up onto the bed, 'she's pretty Mummy.'

Hermione smiled at her daughter and turned to Scorpius who was standing with his arms crossed, 'come on sweetie, come and have a look at her. I'm sure you'll like her more then.'

Reluctantly Scorpius walked forward and looked at Cassie who smiled the moment she saw his face. Despite the fact he had wanted a brother Scorpius couldn't resist smiling, 'she's okay,' he admitted.

Hermione and Draco shared an amused glance as Scorpius climbed up onto the bed and hugged Hermione's right side while Rose snuggled into her left side. For the first time it felt like they were a real family.

* * *

'I heard the baby couldn't wait to get out.'

Hermione chuckled when Harry walked into her bedroom, she was holding Cassie because she had just fed her, 'yeah, she was in quite the hurry.'

'Did you name her yet?' Ginny asked as she and Harry sat down by Hermione's bed. Cassie was one day old and Hermione was still recovering.

'We did,' Hermione said happily, 'she's called Cassie.'

'Cassiopeia,' Draco muttered under his breath.

Hermione rolled her eyes, 'She's called Cassiopeia because Draco insisted on naming her after a star.'

Harry snorted and Draco remarked, 'Cassiopeia is a constellation, not a star!'

Ginny chuckled and said, 'Well I think Cassiopeia and Cassie are both pretty names.'

'It suits her,' Harry agreed as he smiled at the baby.

'Do you want to hold your God-daughter?' Hermione asked as she held the baby out to Harry who smiled and took her into his arms, 'she's so small.'

'She's only 6 pounds,' Ginny said with a chuckle, 'our smallest was nearly 8.'

'She looks like her Father,' Harry remarked as he noted that Cassie had fair hair and blue eyes.

'We think her eyes will change,' Draco said with a smile, 'they're a lot darker today than they were yesterday.'

'She has your nose Hermione,' Ginny commented with a smile.

'Congratulations,' Harry said to Draco and Hermione, 'I never thought I'd be holding the baby of my best friend and my worst enemy, but I must admit. You two make one adorable child.'

Draco chuckled and said, 'And I never thought I'd hear you call my child adorable Potter.'

'So how did you end up delivering your own daughter?' Harry asked in amusement.

Draco chuckled and said, 'Well Hermione here decided to touch the only door with an enchantment on it that I can't remove. My father put it there, and it threw her back against the wall. Because of the trauma she went into labour early and I swear I have never seen a faster labour.'

Ginny chuckled, 'She was only in labour for an hour with Rose, I can't say I'm surprised.'

'Well think of it this way. How many Fathers can say they've delivered their own child?' Harry asked in amusement, causing a wave of laughter to go around the room.

* * *

'I hear that a baby was born or something?' Theo asked lazily as he walked into the room with Sophie trailing after him.

'Yeah, no big deal,' Draco said with a smirk.

'It's not like you delivered it or anything,' Theo remarked.

Draco chuckled at this and said, 'she's sleeping at the moment, she must have known you were coming.'

'Congratulations mate,' Theo said with a chuckle as he looked at the beautiful sleeping baby.

'Your turn next,' Draco said simply and Theo shook his head, 'don't remind me.'

'He's freaking out a little,' Sophie informed them as she too looked at the baby, 'she's adorable, congratulations, both of you.'

'Thanks Sophie,' Hermione said with a yawn.

'Does she have a name?' Sophie asked as she sat down by Hermione's bed.

'She's called Cassie,' Hermione said with a smile.

Draco gritted his teeth and muttered, 'Cassiopeia.'

Theo snorted in amusement, 'I'm guessing you agreed to Cassiopeia in the hope he'd be happy to shorten it to Cassie?'

'That's exactly why I agreed,' Hermione said with a chuckle, 'although Draco did want to call her Cassiopeia Alexandra Louisa Georgina…I'm just grateful she doesn't have a ridiculous amount of pointless middle names.'

'Pureblood tradition,' Theo said offhandedly, 'I've got 4 names, Draco has 3.'

'I've only got two,' Sophie said in amusement.

'Is this making you excited or scared Sophie?' Hermione asked sleepily.

'A mixture of both,' Sophie answered honestly.

Hermione laughed and shortly after that Sophie and Theo left to let Hermione get some much needed sleep.

'I never thought I could be this happy you know,' Draco said with a smile to Hermione, 'after Astoria died I thought I'd never feel that kind of happiness again.'

'I'm glad you do,' Hermione said softly as she placed a gentle kiss on his lips.

'So am I,' Draco said with a smile, 'I love you Hermione, and I love our family.'

**TBC :)  
**

**A/N: To anyone who doesn't live in Britain or own a TV/radio/computer/money to buy a newspaper. The Royal Prince was born on Monday and named today so that's what got me to move my butt and write this chapter! Also in the last scene with the names thing that's a little reference to that! Anyway, that's the end of this section. The next 3 chapters will be a flash-forward to about 5 years in the future! **


	18. The QWC: The Campsite

**The War is Over**

**Chapter 18 – THE Quidditch World Cup: The Campsite**

_**5 YEARS LATER:**_

'Come on Scorp, we'll be late,' Hermione called to the blonde haired boy as he pulled his shoes on.

'Uncle Harry's always late anyway,' Rose said matter of factly as Scorpius finally got his shoes on and walked over to the rest of the family.

'Draco, where's Cassie?' Hermione asked as she looked around the entrance hall.

'She was there a second ago,' Draco said as he rolled his eyes and walked into the sitting room, 'Cassiopeia!'

A small girl ran out from behind the sofa giggling. Now that she was older she looked even more like Draco with her pure blonde hair, although she had curly hair like Hermione. Her eyes had gotten darker but they were still a dark greyish blue. She had Hermione's face shape and she looked very similar to Rose, just with a different hair and eye colour.

'Come here you little monster,' Draco said with a smile as he lifted the 4 year old up to make sure she didn't run away again, 'alright, are we ready?' he asked Hermione who glanced around to make sure that Rose and Scorpius were ready and then nodded.

'Going out is much more stressful with 3 children,' Hermione mumbled to Draco as he activated the floo in the entrance hall fireplace. Draco walked through first holding Cassie then Hermione sent Rose and Scorpius through before following them into the fire.

When she emerged she smiled at the sight. Rose and Scorpius who were now 11 and going to Hogwarts at the end of the summer had run off, presumably to find Al who they were both close friends with. Cassie was sitting on Draco's knee as he talked to Harry who had a little girl of a similar age sitting on his lap. Harry had sworn he and Ginny wouldn't have any more kids but then a week or two after Cassie had been born Ginny announced she was 3 months pregnant. When Hermione talked to Harry about it he had said that it had been a slightly drunken night in May on the anniversary of the war. Regardless of her conception Harry and Ginny both adored Carina.

'Hey Mione,' Ginny said as she hugged her friend.

'Hey Gin,' Hermione said brightly as she sat down next to Draco at the kitchen table, 'what was so urgent?'

'Nothing bad,' Harry assured her with a smile as he put his daughter down. Cautiously Draco put Cassie down on the ground and the moment he turned away she ran off with Carina, probably to join the other kids in the drawing room.

'I think I know what it is anyway,' Draco said knowingly with a slight smirk towards Harry.

'Oh I expect you probably do,' Harry said with a chuckle, 'but for Hermione's benefit… I'm playing seeker for England in the Quidditch World Cup next month.'

Hermione's jaw dropped, 'Really? That's great Harry!'

Harry grinned broadly, 'Well Jones got cursed in Egypt and they were struggling for a good replacement so they asked me to do it.'

'And you have the chance to do it during a year when we actually have a shot at winning,' Draco remarked with a chuckle.

'True, but America have been playing pretty well from what I hear,' Ginny said with a smile, 'after all they made it as far as the final.'

Hermione nodded, frowning slightly.

'Do you think Ron will be there?' Harry asked, knowing what Hermione was worried about.

'I don't know,' She replied honestly, 'I don't think he's good enough to play for America…and if he is there as a spectator I doubt we'd see him with so many others going.'

'Are you definitely going then?' Ginny asked, Hermione had been debating it with Cassie being so young, but also because she knew Ron might be there.

'We decided to do it in the end,' Draco answered for his wife, 'after all England isn't in the final that often.'

Harry laughed at this and nodded, 'True, I've got seats in the Ministers box for Gin and the kids. I could probably pull some strings for you guys too if you wanted me too.'

'Thanks for the offer Harry,' Hermione said with a smile, 'but we're in the Ministers box anyway. Draco saved the Ministers son last month and as a thank you he gave us all tickets.'

'I'm booking our camping plot tomorrow,' Ginny said to Hermione, 'I'll book together so that we can have plots next to each other if you want?'

'That would be nice,' Hermione said with a smile, 'Rose and Scorp are so excited about it.'

'Tell me about it, Al's excited but James just won't shut up about it,' Harry said as he rolled his eyes.

'Oh hush Harry, I remember how excited you were for your first Quidditch World Cup,' Hermione teased and Ginny chuckled as she too remembered this.

* * *

Hermione had never really thought about how stressful it must be getting a big group of people up early to get to a portkey, but now that she was doing just that she sympathised with Arthur Weasley.

'Rose,' Hermione said sharply as she entered her daughter's room, 'sweetheart, you really must get up. We need to leave or we won't get there on time.'

Rose yawned and pulled her covers over her face, 'I'm coming Mum.'

'No you aren't,' Hermione said as she flicked her wand and pulled the covers off of her daughter, 'come on, I want to see you downstairs in 10 minutes.'

'Is Dad making pancakes?' Rose asked as Hermione opened the door to leave and the smell wafted through it.

Hermione smiled slightly evilly and said, 'Yes, but if you don't get downstairs quick Scorp will have already eaten them all.'

'Scorp's up already?' Rose asked as she jumped out of bed.

Hermione smiled in amusement as she left the room and walked into the room next door where Scorpius was lying in bed with the covers pulled over his head.

'Scorp!' Hermione called, 'You need to get up if we're going to get there on time.'

Like Rose, Scorpius merely groaned and made no effort to move until Hermione said, 'Dad's making pancakes, but Rose and Cassie will have eaten them all if you don't hurry up.'

Knowing this would get the boy moving Hermione left the room and cut through the secret passage to Cassie's room in the other wing of the house. She walked into her daughter's room and sat down gently on the edge of her bed, 'Cassie,' she said as she shook her daughter gently.

Cassie yawned and opened her sleepy eyes, 'Mummy?'

'We have to get you up and dressed now sweetie,' Hermione said kindly, 'we're going to see the Quidditch game today.'

'Okay,' Cassie said simply with another yawn and Hermione chuckled at how much easier it was to get her younger daughter up.

10 minutes later everyone was sitting in the kitchen with a plate of pancakes in front of them. Draco and Hermione were both drinking from steaming mugs of coffee.

'Can't I have some of that Mum?' Scorpius asked as he looked at his Dad's coffee.

'No,' Draco replied simply.

'Why not?' Rose asked a little huffily.

'Because you're too young,' Hermione said with a yawn, 'you can have coffee when your teenagers.'

'Or when your adults,' Draco adjusted, 'it makes you stop growing.'

'Rose is always going to be a shorty anyway,' Scorpius said which made Rose glare at him, 'shut up, I'm not short!'

'You're average height Rosie,' Draco said, 'leave her alone Scorp, everyone's tired and grumpy this morning.'

'Why do we have to be up so early anyway?' Scorpius asked as he yawned, 'I thought we could go later because we're rich?'

Hermione rolled her eyes and said, 'That's exactly the kind of attitude that made your Father an idiot when he was your age Scorpius. Everyone else is going now so we will do the same, we don't get to follow a different set of rules just because we have more money than some people.'

'What your Mother said,' Draco said with a firm nod.

Scorpius rolled his eyes and said, 'I can't wait to go to Hogwarts, I'll be allowed to sleep as long as I want.'

'No you won't stupid,' Rose said smugly, 'you'll have to get up for classes.'

'And if you don't your sister will write to us and tell us,' Draco added with a smirk.

'That only works if we're in the same house,' Scorpius pointed out, 'she's going to be a know-it-all Ravenclaw.'

'And you're positive you'll be in Slytherin,' Hermione said in vague amusement, 'so much like your Father.'

'I was more arrogant,' Draco pointed out as he got to his feet and slung a rucksack on.

'You were just as cocky though,' Hermione said in a whisper as she too got to her feet and put her shoes and jacket on.

'Alright you two, if you're finished eating get ready to go,' Draco said to Rose and Scorpius as he helped Cassie into her boots and jacket.

Another 10 minutes later they were walking up a hill to the portkey they had been allocated. As they were coming from Wiltshire and the Potter's were going from London they had agreed to meet up at the campsite. As they climbed the hillside Hermione held Cassie's hand and Draco led the way with Rose and Scorpius who were complaining, again.

'This is stupid, couldn't we just floo there?' Scorpius asked with a groan.

'No Scorpius,' Rose replied, 'because it's a secret location, we can't just floo to it, duh!'

'Shut up smarty pants,' Scorpius retorted.

'Scorp, don't tell your sister to shut up!' Draco snapped.

'My legs hurt and this is taking forever,' Scorpius whined.

'Your sister is doing it and she's 7 years younger than you,' Hermione said from behind them with slight amusement, 'come on Scorp, if Cassie can do it so can you. Right Cass?'

Cassie nodded and looked like she was struggling a little, her cheeks were very red and she was puffing a fair bit. Scorpius groaned but continued the walk up to the top of the hill and eventually reached it. The portkey was fairly easy to find because it was a tin can which didn't fit in with anything else on the top of the hill, it looked too clean and new rather than rusty.

'Okay, everyone hold the can,' Draco said as he and Hermione placed their hands on it and Hermione got Cassie to do the same. Rose reached out and held the can easily but Scorpius made a face and muttered something about how it was stupid that they had to act like peasants when they were rich anyway.

After a few seconds of waiting the portkey activated and the world began to spin faster and faster until they arrived at the secret location. Hermione held onto Cassie as Rose and Scorpius landed hard on the ground. The two adults easily walked out of the whirling air and landed gently on the grass.

'Why did Cassie get to do that?' Rose asked in annoyance.

'Because she's younger than you,' Hermione answered shortly.

Rose and Scorpius looked at each other and both sighed in exasperation.

Hermione rolled her eyes and tried to keep the children in check as Draco talked to the wizards on duty and got the number of their plot and a map to it. They had VIP plots close to the path to the pitch and the biggest water source.

'Alright we're ready to go,' Draco said as Hermione kept a tight grip on Cassie, 'Rose, Scorp, hold each other's hands so you don't get lost. It's very busy,' she said as she looked across the campsite which was buzzing already. There were some people here who had probably been camped out for a week already, they were lucky to be able to afford to come on the day.

'I'm not holding her hand,' Scorpius said as he wrinkled his nose.

'Fine then, hold one of your Father's hands,' Hermione said as she narrowed her eyes at the children, 'or I'll levitate you. Those are your choices.'

'Mum, I'm not 5,' Rose said in exasperation.

'Well stop acting like it then and hold your brothers hand unless you want to get lost and kidnapped by a strange American wizard,' Draco said with an air of sarcasm.

'I don't think we need to worry about that,' Hermione muttered to Draco as Rose and Scorpius reluctantly took each other's hands, 'they'd return them.'

Draco chuckled as the family began to walk through the campsite. It was nothing new to Draco or Hermione but the kids were fascinated by the tents. As they passed the first two sections they were fairly standard but then they began to get more elaborate with extra floors and windows and doors with working knockers. People were flying around on broomsticks and wizards and witches from the Ministry were patrolling the area trying to keep everything under control. As they walked through the campsite they heard all sorts of accents and people speaking in lots of weird and wonderful languages. Already the atmosphere was exciting, even for Draco and Hermione who had been to a world cup before, but they had talked about this the night before. Their last Quidditch World Cup had been tainted by the death eater attack which Draco knew his Father was going to be a part of, so it had really ruined the whole experience for him.

'This is us,' Draco said as he glanced down to the map. They were close to the edge of a heavily wooded area and there were about 10 other plots in the little section. There were only two tents up at the moment however, both of which were elaborate.

'Theo,' Draco murmured in amusement as he saw the tent opposite of the plot that they were allocated. It was extravagant and looked more like a house than a tent with the outside being red and designed to look like bricks. It had a chimney and windows and a proper front door with what looked to be a real brass knocker on it. It also had two floors, a ground floor, with an added first floor and extensions that were clearly held up by magic. There was a little white fence at the front that had a small garden area with a white bench and also a little fire ready for later.

Hermione shook her head in amusement, 'Really?' she asked as she took in the tent.

Draco and Scorpius shared an amused glance as Draco took the rucksack from his bag and pulled a small square from it.

'Is that our tent?' Hermione asked in surprise.

'Yes,' Draco replied, 'compact for carrying.'

'And it's sensible? Not extravagant with two stories like that?' Hermione asked with a raised eyebrow as she looked from the Nott tent to her husband.

'Well,' Draco said as he chewed his lip.

'It doesn't have two stories,' Scorpius said brightly, 'Dad, can I help you build the tent?'

Draco said, 'Course you can son,' and swiftly crossed the small bit of grass to their plot leaving Hermione shaking her head in amusement and disbelief.

'I'm helping too!' Rose said with a smile as she rushed across to her Father and brother.

At that moment Sophie walked out of the tent and smiled when she saw her friend, 'Hermione, hey!' she said happily.

'Sophie, hi!' Hermione said with a grin, 'what are the chances of you guys being just across from us?'

'I know, strange right?' Sophie asked with a chuckle.

'Is Zora about?' Hermione asked just as a little girl rushed from the tent. She was around the same age as Cassie and had dark brown hair and light brown eyes, she looked very similar to her Mother.

'Zora!' Cassie squealed as she hurried over to the girl and sat down with her on the white bench in the 'garden'.

Hermione chuckled and Sophie smiled as she looked to the two girls, 'Sebastian is still asleep, I didn't even want to bring him but everyone is coming here so we couldn't exactly find a babysitter.'

'You know Draco and I would have taken him if we could have,' Hermione said, referring to Sophie and Theo's 2 year old boy Sebastian. With two children they had agreed that it was plenty and that they would definitely not be having anymore.

'Ah look who it is, the boy saviour, arriving early like the rest of us normal human beings,' Sophie said with a slight smirk as Harry walked into the little area with Ginny by his side and his four children trailing after him yawning and rubbing their eyes.

Harry chuckled and said, 'Yes, well I try and fit in with my subjects.'

Draco sniggered from where he was still putting the tent up, partly with magic and partly with the help of Scorpius and Rose, 'do you think you're King or something now?'

'No, that would be Neville,' Harry said with a smirk, 'I'm just the person who controls how all your children are being taught.'

'That's a worrying thought,' Draco murmured which made Harry chuckle.

'And I still can't believe fatbottom became Minister for Magic,' Draco added in an undertone.

'I heard that ferret,' a familiar voice said from the tent next to Theo and Sophie's.

The group turned to see Neville standing watching them with a smirk from the doorway of his tent which looked like a Greek temple designed to look like marble and complete with pillars at the doorway, one of which he was leaning against as he surveyed the others.

'Dad, why's the Minister calling you a ferret?' Rose asked inquisitively.

Hermione sniggered as Draco replied, 'That's a story for another day.'

'Twitchy little ferret, aren't you Malfoy?' Hermione asked her husband in a whisper.

'I love it when you call me Malfoy,' Draco said with a smirk.

'That's an image I never wanted,' Harry said as he wrinkled his nose, 'no offence Hermione.'

'None taken,' Hermione said with a chuckle.

'Ready for the final reveal?' Draco asked with a grin as he got ready to finish putting the tent up.

'Come on then, let's see how bad it is,' Hermione said as Draco flicked his wand and a 4 story emerald green tent popped up, complete with a chimney, a silver front door and silver lined windows. Like Theo's tent it had a small front garden area with real hedges and…

'Is that a peacock?' Harry asked in disbelief, 'really Draco?'

'You said it wasn't elaborate!' Hermione remarked as she took in the ridiculously elaborate tent.

'Well I knew what Theo was doing, I could hardly let him beat me!' Draco exclaimed.

'Merlin Draco, you're 30 years old! Not everything has to be a competition!' Hermione chastised her Husband.

'They're men, of course everything has to be a competition,' Ginny said from where she was keeping an eye on her four kids who were talking to Rose and Scorpius a little way in the distance. James was now 12 and had just finished his first year at Hogwarts, he was a Gryffindor like his Mother and Father. Albus was 11, just like Rose and Scorpius. Lily was 7 years old now and Carina was 3 years old, a year younger than Cassie.

As this conversation was going on Harry was in the process of putting his tent up, his kids hadn't helped him like Rose and Scorpius had helped Draco so he had done it purely by magic which made the process a lot quicker.

'Ginny, not everything has to be a competition,' Harry said with a smirk, 'but hypothetically if this were a competition to see who had the best tent, I'd win.'

He flicked his wand and in seconds his tent was erected on the plot. It had 5 stories and was scarlet with a golden door and gold lined windows. It also had a large picture of the Gryffindor lion on it and had a small front garden area with a wall and a working well. Like Draco's it had a chimney and there was a real baby Hippogriff tied to the wall to guard the tent.

'Potter, you're so paranoid,' Theo drawled as he joined the group of friends, 'why would someone attack your tent?'

'Well, the last time I was camping I got kidnapped and put in the dungeons of Malfoy Manor,' Harry said matter of factly, 'and the last time I camped at a Quidditch world cup it was attacked by Death Eaters.'

'Fair point,' Theo said with a nod.

'You're just jealous that my tent is better than yours,' Harry smirked as he glanced to the former Slytherin.

'Shut up Potter, your tent reeks of Gryffindor pride,' Draco remarked.

'And yours is literally green with envy,' Harry said smugly.

'Seriously?' Sophie asked the other women in disbelief, 'are we back in Hogwarts again?'

'Feels a bit like it,' Hermione said in disbelief.

'Nah, if we were back in Hogwarts Harry and Draco would be cursing each other by now,' Ginny said matter of factly.

'Stop attacking our masculinity,' Harry said as he pulled another tent from his bag which he began to erect between his tent and Draco and Hermione's.

'Harry, what do you need two tents for?' Draco asked in disbelief.

'Oh this is for us later,' Harry said with a grin, 'so we can have a drink without waking the kids up.'

'I like your thinking,' Theo said with a smirk.

* * *

Later that day when the sky got a little darker everyone ended up in Draco and Hermione's hedged garden because it happened to be the biggest. They had arrived the day before the Quidditch World Cup and were sitting around the campfire with hot chocolate as they toasted marshmallows and tried to fend off the peacocks trying to steal their food.

'Dad,' Scorpius whined, 'why did you bring peacocks?'

'Your Father has an affinity for things that remind him of his Father,' Hermione said with a slight smirk towards Scorpius.

'Grandfather liked peacocks?' Rose asked in bemusement.

'Scorpius's Grandfather did,' Draco replied with a slight smile, 'however I don't have peacocks because of that. I just like beautiful creatures, that's why I married your Mother.'

'Aw that's sweet,' Sophie said with a smile as Theo and Harry pretended to throw up.

'Did you just call me a creature?' Hermione asked with a frown.

'Merlin woman you're never happy,' Draco joked as he shook his head in amusement.

Rose and Scorpius sniggered at this and resumed their conversation with Albus, James and Lily about the game the following day. Cassie, Zora, Sebastian and Carina were in bed since they were a little younger but everyone else was gathered around the fire. The adults were all making bets on the game the next day.

'I think England have got it in the bag,' Theo was saying, 'Wood hasn't let a goal in all season.'

'Yeah and he's been training for this since birth,' Harry remarked with a snigger.

Sophie laughed and said, 'He's got a much better record than the American keeper, I hear he's a bit hit and miss.'

'Merlin, sounds like Ron,' Harry said with a chuckle.

Hermione frowned and swallowed a lump in her throat, Draco noticed this and grabbed her hand, 'He's only joking, it's not going to be Weasley.'

'Yeah, Weasel was never any good,' Theo agreed with a snigger.

'He helped us beat you in the Quidditch cup once,' Harry noted with a smirk.

'That was just luck,' Sophie said as she jumped into the conversation.

'Who's Ron?' Rose asked inquisitively as she listened into the adults conversation.

Hermione glared at the others and lied, 'Just someone we went to Hogwarts with sweetheart.'

After this the conversation turned back to Quidditch and the game that would take place the following day.

'England have the advantage of having Davies as a chaser,' Draco was saying to the others, 'they've really come on since he joined the team.'

'Yeah I've seen him play, he's pretty good,' Harry said with a slight smile.

'But their seekers awful, they've got no chance,' Theo said with a smirk in Harry's direction.

'I know, he's so blind, he won't even see the snitch,' Sophie teased.

Harry rolled his eyes and said, 'Aren't you supposed to be on my side? You don't want America to win now, do you?'

'America don't win things,' Draco said with a snort.

'Apart from the Wars of Independence,' Hermione pointed out which left most of their little group confused.

'What?' Theo asked with a frown.

Neville shared an amused glance with his wife Susan who said, 'when America got independence from the British Empire...'

'Oh, Muggle stuff,' Theo said offhandedly, 'my point is that Wizarding America is still very backwards.'

Hermione snorted, 'And Britain isn't? You still don't use bloody electricity!'

'Anyway, what you're saying is it's a foregone conclusion that England will win,' Harry said with a grin.

'No,' Hermione replied simply.

'What do you mean?' Harry asked, sounding offended.

'Well you could have a really bad day and they could have a really good day,' Hermione explained, 'what's the point in trying to guess what's going to happen? Can't we just enjoy it when it comes tomorrow?'

'I think that's a sensible idea,' Ginny said with a smile as she got to her feet, 'and I also think bedtime for certain children of mine is a sensible idea.'

James, Albus and Lily groaned at this but were marched into the tent next door to go to bed regardless. Neville and Susan returned to their tent where their 3 year old daughter was asleep and Theo and Sophie also said goodnight. However Theo and Neville both winked at Harry as they walked away, meaning they'd slip out later for a drink in Harry's second tent.

'Come on you two,' Hermione said to Rose and Scorpius as she got to her feet, 'you should be getting to bed too, it's another early morning tomorrow.'

Begrudgingly the two children walked into the tent and went upstairs to get ready for bed.

'I know your planning on drinking with Harry tonight,' Hermione informed Draco with a slight smirk when she shut the door to the tent/house.

'Do you mind?' Draco asked curiously.

'Of course I don't,' Hermione replied honestly, 'but remember, only one firewhiskey.'

Draco nodded and kissed his wife on the cheek, 'You know I never have more than one,' he said as he slipped out of the tent as quickly as he had come in.

Hermione shook her head in amusement and made her way upstairs to check on Cassie, she quietly opened the door to her bedroom and saw that she was sound asleep in her bed so she pulled the door shut and knocked on the door of the room next to it which was supposed to be the room Rose was sleeping in. She frowned when she got no answer and pushed the door open, but the room was empty.

Confused, but not worried, because she knew Rose was in the tent somewhere, Hermione climbed up to the next floor which had only one room with an adjoining bathroom. This was the room she and Draco would be using. After quickly checking inside she climbed the stairs to the top floor which had a further two bedrooms on it. She was about to walk into one when she heard voices, and she knew she shouldn't but she paused to listen in to what was being said.

'What's wrong Rose?' Scorpius's slightly muffled voice said from inside the room.

'I think that man they were talking about today…Ron, I think that's my real Dad,' Rose said quietly.

Hermione bit her lip and silently cursed her daughter for being too clever and intuitive.

'Does it matter if he is?' Scorpius asked simply, 'Dad's still your Dad even if not by blood.'

Hermione heard her daughter sigh and then say, 'But I think he might be here Scorp. All Mum told me was that he lived in America and that he played Quidditch.'

'There's lots of American Quidditch teams though Rose,' Scorpius reassured his sister.

'I know, but what if he is here? What do I do?' Rose asked panicking slightly. Hermione reached out and put her hand on the door handle, ready to go in and intervene. However as it turned out she didn't need too.

'You don't need to do anything,' Scorpius said and some shuffling inside the room made Hermione think he was hugging her, 'I'll protect you Rose. I won't let him hurt you or Mum.'

'He probably wouldn't even recognise me Scorp…I was really little when he left,' Rose said sadly.

'Exactly, he might be your Father by blood but that doesn't mean anything compared to everything Dad's done for you, don't you see that?' Scorpius asked gently.

Rose must have nodded because Hermione heard movement in the room, 'Yeah,' she said quietly, 'but what if he tries to take me away from Mum and Dad?'

'He won't,' Scorpius said firmly, 'because I won't let him, and neither will Mum or Dad.'

'Can you stay with me all day tomorrow Scorp?' Rose asked in a quiet voice, 'please?'

'Of course I will,' Scorpius replied and as the room went quiet Hermione smiled slightly and walked quietly away. She got down the stairs and slipped out of the door to the tent a few metres away which looked familiar somehow.

As she neared it Hermione frowned and recognised it as the tent they had used during the war to camp in. She shook her head in amusement and disbelief as she ducked her head and walked in. Sitting in comfy armchairs were Harry, Draco, Theo and Neville.

'Hermione, hey,' Harry said brightly.

'Hey,' Hermione said with a small smile, 'I was wondering if I could talk to you Draco.'

Draco knew something was up so he got up and left the tent with Hermione, 'what's wrong?' he asked.

Hermione shrugged and said, 'I just overheard Rose and Scorp talking. Rose thinks Ron's her real Father, she got curious after she heard us talking about him earlier.'

'Did you talk to her?' Draco asked with a slight frown.

Hermione shook her head and replied, 'No, Scorpius seemed to do a good enough job without me.'

'What did he say?' Draco asked curiously.

'Just that her real Father didn't mean anything because you were the one who had raised her,' Hermione said with a smile, 'and that he'd stay with her all day tomorrow in case Ron is here so that he can protect her.'

'As much as those two fight they are at the end of the day brother and sister,' Draco said with a fond smile as he looked up to the window of the room the two children were currently in.

Hermione smiled too, 'I am nervous about tomorrow,' she admitted.

'Come in for a couple of minutes and have a drink,' Draco said with a smile as he put his arm around Hermione and led her back into the tent.

'Everything sorted then?' Harry asked the couple when they walked into the tent.

'Yeah,' Hermione replied with a smile, 'and Harry, why do you still have this tent? I'd have thought you would have gotten rid of it by now.'

Harry smiled slightly and replied, 'Sentimental reasons.'

'What's sentimental about a tent?' Theo asked sceptically.

Draco frowned in realisation, 'Is this…where it happened?' he asked.

'What, you told him?' Harry asked Hermione in surprise.

'He is my Husband,' Hermione said simply, 'didn't you tell Ginny?'

'No,' Harry replied thoughtfully, 'it never really seemed a good time to mention it.'

'What are you talking about?' Neville asked curiously, 'what happened here?'

'Yeah, what _are _you talking about?' Theo asked, looking from Harry to Draco to Hermione.

Harry chuckled and said, 'Theo, you I understand, you've always poked your nose into other people's business. But Neville Longbottom, our respected Minister for Magic, begging for gossip like an old witch.'

Neville rolled his eyes in amusement, 'So what happened in this tent?'

'Not even in this tent,' Harry said with a glint in his eye as he glanced at Hermione, 'right here in this room.'

Draco then said, 'This is the tent they camped out in when they were on the run during the war.'

Theo narrowed his eyes at Harry and Hermione, 'Really? You two had a fling in this tent during the war?'

'Did you?' Neville asked in surprise as his eyes widened.

'You guys are like old housewives,' Hermione said in disbelief as she shook her head.

'You didn't deny it,' Neville said with a smirk.

'Yeah,' Draco said with a slightly worried frown, 'you didn't deny it.'

'You're all so bloody gullible,' Harry said as he laughed loudly, 'we only danced.'

'You tried to kiss me then chickened out,' Hermione pointed out.

'Which was probably a good thing since I forgot to pack a toothbrush,' Harry joked and everyone laughed loudly as Harry poured out drinks and offered everyone another butterbeer. The game was fast approaching and just like the last time the atmosphere was great.

**TBC :)  
**

**A/N: If all goes to plan there will be two more chapters, possibly 3. Maybe even 4 if I do an epilogue! The next chapter is the Quidditch World Cup itself! :)**


	19. The Quidditch World Cup

**The War is Over**

**Chapter 19 – The Quidditch World Cup**

'DAD! DAD! WAKE UP!'

Scorpius was running through the tent knocking on doors and shouting at everyone to wake up, 'MUM! WAKE UP!'

Rose was already awake and was downstairs with Cassie as Scorpius woke their parents up at a ridiculously early hour of the morning.

'Why is Scorp shouting?' Cassie asked Rose as her older sister got her some cereal.

'He's excited Cass,' Rose said with a smile, 'we all are. We're seeing the Quidditch World Cup today.'

'What's that Rose?' Cassie asked inquisitively.

'It's the biggest Quidditch tournament in the world where all the countries play,' Rose explained happily, 'and England are in the final this year.'

'I want England to win!' Cassie exclaimed which made Rose laugh, 'Me too Cass.'

'They're coming down for breakfast,' Scorpius announced as he practically bounced into the kitchen, 'I can't wait for the game tonight!'

'Scorp we have about 11 hours until the game starts,' Hermione said in exasperation as she walked into the kitchen wearing a dressing gown, 'I suggest you go back to sleep for a couple of hours or have a nap in the afternoon like Cassie.'

'I can't sleep Mum,' Scorpius said, he could barely even stand still, 'it's the Quidditch World Cup tonight!'

'Yeah son we know,' Draco yawned as he too emerged wearing a dressing gown, 'but like your Mother said its 11 hours away.'

'But Dad I'm not tired,' Scorpius whined.

'I'm not tired either,' Rose said slowly, 'and I don't need to sleep in the afternoon, I'll be fine tonight.'

'I know Rose but you have more tolerance of long days than your brother,' Draco said with a small smile, 'he gets grumpy when he's been awake too long.'

'I do not,' Scorpius said, glaring at his Father.

'You know you do Scorpius,' Hermione said shortly, 'and regardless of whether you sleep or not your Father and I are both going back to bed for a couple of hours.'

'I'm sleepy too Mummy,' Cassie said as she jumped down from the chair she was in and walked over to her Mother to hug her leg.

'Did Scorpius wake you up with all of his shouting?' Draco asked as he lifted Cassie up.

The little blonde girl nodded and Scorpius rolled his eyes, 'Ugh, it's always my fault!'

'Scorpius Malfoy you are being a grumpy insufferable pain in the backside,' Draco said with a sharp look at his son, 'get back to bed now or you won't be going anywhere tonight.'

'Fine!' Scorpius said as he stormed up the stairs to his bedroom.

'I'm awake now,' Draco said to Hermione as he handed Cassie to her, 'take Cassie back up to bed. I'll stay with Rose.'

'Are you sure?' Hermione asked as she walked towards the door.

'I'm fine, I get up earlier than this most days for my hospital shifts,' Draco said with a smile, 'I'll see you in a couple of hours.'

Hermione smiled and kissed Draco lightly on the lips before leaving the room and going upstairs with Cassie.

'Dad?'

'What's up Rose?' Draco asked as he sat down across from her at the table in the large fully functional kitchen.

'I think my real Father is here,' Rose admitted as she swallowed a lump in her throat.

'Yeah? You think he's a Quidditch player?' Draco asked, he was playing dumb because he didn't want Rose to know that Hermione had overheard her conversation with Scorpius the night before.

'I know he is,' Rose said, 'Mum told me he was a Quidditch player and he lived in America, but she didn't tell me anything else.'

'Well there are a lot of Quidditch players in America and only 7 spots on the America Quidditch team,' Draco said with a slight smile, 'what's really worrying you?'

'I'm scared I might meet him one day,' Rose admitted, 'and I don't want to. I don't think he was a very good Father, he left us.'

'I know,' Draco said softly.

'And what if one day he comes back and tries to be a part of my life?' Rose asked with wide eyes.

'If that happens it's your choice,' Draco answered honestly, 'your Mother and I will love you regardless of what you do. You can choose to let him be a part of your life, but if you don't want him to be then he has no place to try and suddenly come back into it.'

'I don't want him in my life Dad,' Rose admitted in a small voice, 'he left me and Mum, he doesn't even know who I am anymore and he never attempted to find me. You're my Dad, and I only need one.'

Draco smiled at this and got up from his chair to hug his daughter, 'I'm glad you think that way Rose,' he admitted as he hugged her, 'I would never stop you seeing your real Father but I'm glad that's how you feel.'

Rose nodded and the conversation came to an end as she got up to get changed so that she could play on her broom outside for a while. Draco also got changed and grabbed a book, he then went and sat outside in the warm morning sunshine to read it.

* * *

'Never pegged you as the type of person to read Muggle literature.'

Draco looked up from his book and smiled when he saw Neville Longbottom, the Minister for Magic, standing watching him.

'I find it interesting to read from a different perspective,' Draco said simply.

'War and Peace? That's pretty heavy reading,' Neville remarked.

'I've read heavier,' Draco said as he got to his feet, 'what can I help you with this morning Minister?'

'I was just being nosy,' Neville lied, pretty well but not well enough for Draco who saw right through it.

'No you weren't,' Draco said, 'what do you want?'

'Honestly, I want to give you a heads up,' Neville said truthfully, 'I've heard rumours.'

'What kind of rumours?' Draco asked with a frown.

'That the keeper for America has dropped out due to an injury at yesterdays practice,' Neville said in an undertone, 'they've brought the sub in.'

'And?' Draco asked, praying that his worst fears wouldn't materialise.

'They think it might be Ron,' Neville murmured.

Draco's heart sank as he gave Neville a stiff nod, 'Don't say anything to Hermione,' he ordered, 'especially in front of the kids.'

'I won't,' Neville promised, 'I just thought you had a right to know.'

'Thank you,' Draco said honestly, 'I appreciate it.'

Neville just nodded and said, 'I'll see you tonight, I need to hop off to St. Mungo's to see Frank.'

'How's he doing?' Draco asked, referring to Neville's 5 year old son.

'Great, thanks to you,' Neville said with a smile, 'his leg is still healing but I'm hoping to get him out for the day so he can see the game.'

'I hope you manage,' Draco said honestly as Neville smiled and bade him goodbye.

The moment he was alone Draco sank down heavily onto the bench in the garden as he debated his options. In the end he glanced to where Rose was playing with James by the Potter's tent and rushed into his own tent. He made his way quietly up the stairs and slipped into the bedroom that he shared with Hermione.

'Wake up,' Draco said softly as he gently shook Hermione.

She frowned and opened her eyes with a yawn, 'Draco?'

'I need to tell you something,' Draco said urgently as Hermione sat up in bed.

'What's wrong?' Hermione asked, sensing his panic straight away.

'The keeper for America dropped out yesterday due to injury,' Draco informed his wife, 'and there are rumours that the sub might be Ron.'

Hermione's reaction to this was almost exactly how Draco had imagined it. Her eyes widened and she froze as she tried to comprehend Draco's words.

'Ron?' Hermione asked quietly when she found her voice, 'he's going to be here?'

'He might be,' Draco said, 'at the moment all we have to go on are rumours.'

'Draco, if he's here…what if he wants Rose? What if he wants to be a part of her life again?' Hermione asked panic-stricken.

'Rose doesn't want him to be,' Draco replied quickly, 'she spoke to me this morning before I knew any of this about what she should do if he was here. I told her it was her choice as to whether she wanted him to be a part of her life or not and she said she didn't want him to be because as far as she was concerned hes the man who left her.'

Hermione nodded but she still felt sick with worry.

'Don't worry,' Draco said as he hugged his wife, 'we'll be alright. I promise.'

* * *

As the day wore on Hermione grew more and more anxious although she hid it as best she could for the sake of the children. Ginny was astounded at the fact Ron might be here when Hermione told her that afternoon. Harry had left early in the morning to train so he didn't know anything about the Ron situation. Theo said he would punch Ron in the face if he was here and had helped more than anyone else by attempting to make a joke out of the whole thing.

Eventually the clock struck 5pm and it was time to walk to the stadium through a wooded area. Cassie was on Draco's shoulders and Hermione was keeping a close eye on Rose and Scorpius as they walked in front with James, Al and Lily. Ginny walked next to Hermione, struggling a little as she carried Carina.

'Do you really think he'll be here?' Ginny asked excitedly as they walked along.

'I don't know,' Hermione answered a little snappish, 'and if he is that's great for you Ginny, but I don't want him in my life again after what he did to me.'

'Of course,' Ginny said in a quiet voice, 'I'm sorry.'

Hermione merely shook her head and walked on.

'What did happen Hermione?' Sophie asked curiously, 'if you don't mind my asking.'

Hermione sighed and gripped Draco's hand tightly, 'I found out Ron was having an affair when I found women's underwear while doing the washing. I confronted him about the affair, he admitted that it was someone at work and said he wanted to be with her and that he'd never really loved me anyway. I got divorce papers through a week later and I found out from Ginny he'd moved to America.'

'And he just left his child?' Theo asked in an angry undertone, 'how could anyone do that?'

'I don't know,' Hermione admitted, 'and she was a toddler, not a baby which makes it all the worse.'

'If he is here Hermione, don't worry, he'll get hell from all us,' Sophie said darkly.

Hermione smiled weakly and said, 'Thanks Soph.'

The rest of the trek to the stadium was in relative silence and when they did talk it wasn't about Ron. As they approached the large, grand stadium the kids got excited and when they actually walked in Scorpius and Rose looked like they might burst with excitement. The stadium was huge with seats and standing area going up so high it looked like it never ended. It was just beginning to get dark and the pitch and stands were flooded with artificial light.

As they walked up the stairs to the Ministers box Draco kept a tight hold on Cassie while Hermione tried to keep an excited Rose and Scorpius in check all the while glancing around nervously and panicking when she caught a glimpse of red hair. When they reached the glass box Hermione sighed in relief, she knew that the kids would enjoy it but coming to a Quidditch game on this scale was nerve-wracking with young children.

'Never again,' Hermione murmured to Draco as they sat down in their seats in the second row, 'the next time we'll take them when they're teenagers.'

Draco chuckled and pulled Cassie onto his knee, 'Agreed,' he said quietly.

Ginny sat down in her seat next to Hermione and looked exhausted with Carina on her lap as she glanced along the row at James, Albus and Lily. She had it worse than Hermione because with Harry playing seeker she'd had to get them all here on her own and all four kids were just as excited as Rose and Scorpius about the upcoming game.

'Did it,' a voice said happily from behind them and Hermione, Draco and Ginny turned to see Neville walk in with his son, he was limping a little but looked excited with his face painted in England's colours.

'Hey Frank,' Draco said with a smile, 'how you feeling?'

'Good thank you Healer Malfoy,' Frank said brightly, 'I really hope England win today!'

'I'm sure they will,' Draco said to the boy as his Father led him into his seat next to his Mother and younger sister Alice in the front row of the prestigious box. A couple of rows back Theo and Sophie were sitting with their two children, but other than that the box was filled with people that Draco and Hermione didn't know.

As the stadium gradually filled up the atmosphere in the box changed to extreme excitement and Hermione let it fall to Draco to keep Scorpius and Rose under control as she entertained Cassie who was now sitting on her knee. Not long after it was finally time and Neville stood up to make the official announcement, 'sonorus,' he muttered as he pointed his wand at his throat.

'Ladies and gentleman!' Neville said, his voice echoing around the box and the stadium, 'welcome to the final of the two hundredth and twenty fifth Quidditch World Cup!'

As the crowd cheered and jumped up excitedly Hermione frowned, thinking for a moment that surely it should be the two hundredth and twenty sixth. Then she realised the 1998 world cup had been cancelled due to the war. The board lit up with the words, 'AMERICA – ZERO. ENGLAND – ZERO.'

Neville smiled and said, 'Now without further ado I introduce to you, the American team mascots!'

There was more cheering, this time from one side of the pitch only where the American fans were seated. A group of about 12 men walked out onto the pitch, at first glance they looked fairly ordinary but then it became clear that they were wearing the sort of outfits that red Indians would wear. Everyone watched with anticipation as the men began to change form, first forming a pack of wolves and then simultaneously changing into birds and spreading some kind of gold dust around the spectators and the pitch.

Cassie was watching with interest whereas Rose and Scorpius had wide open mouths and were fascinated by the mascots. Hermione chuckled, shape shifters, of course that would be the Americans choice of mascot. As the birds became men once more and sat down cross-legged at one side of the pitch Hermione frowned as she tried to figure out what England would choose as their mascots.

'Thank you America,' Neville said with another smile, 'and now kindly welcome our very own mascots, that of the English team!'

Hermione and Draco both watched with anticipation as the mascots began to make their way onto the pitch. They weren't human as the American mascots had been, they were instead centaurs, about 10 of them.

'How the hell did Neville get the centaurs to agree to this?' Draco muttered to Hermione and Ginny in an undertone.

'Believe it or not hes pretty persuasive,' Hermione said with a chuckle, 'he did manage to become Minister for Magic after all.'

'Good point,' Draco murmured under his breath.

Hermione chuckled again and turned to the pitch where the centaurs had their bows poised. The stadium was silent as they all shot a golden arrow at the same time, there was much 'oohs' and 'aahs' from the spectators as the arrows rained down on them, disintegrating into golden dust like that the birds dropped.

As the excitement died down Neville spoke once more, 'and now without further ado. I will hand over to the Head of the Department for Magical Games and Sport, Lee Jordan!'

Hermione smiled as Lee stood up and cast a sonorus charm on himself, 'Alright then, let's get to it and welcome the American National Quidditch team! I give you…Williams! White! Taylor!'

The three chasers clad in blue robes with stars adorning them shot out onto the pitch.

'Harris! And…Lee!'

The two beaters then shot out onto the pitch which meant that the keeper would be the next to be announced. Hermione swallowed a lump in her throat and gripped Draco's hand tightly.

'Weasley!'

Hermione's breath caught in her throat as Ron flew out onto the pitch, wearing the American colours, he was moving so fast that she could only see the blue of his robes and the flashes of his red hair. She felt Draco tighten his grasp on her hand as the seeker for America flew out.

She could barely hear Lee Jordan announcing the England players as she tried to wrap her head around everything that was happening around her. The game was beginning on the pitch, and Rose was asking questions about Ron, she knew the name Weasley, she wanted to know who he was, and if the others knew him. Ginny was staring at the pitch in disbelief and avoiding Rose's questions while Draco answered them as stealthily as he could. The world around her was falling into chaos, Ron was back, and she was terrified that because of that she would lose all that she had held dear for the past 5 years.

'Hermione calm down,' Draco mumbled in her ear, bringing her back to the real world.

'He's here,' Hermione whispered.

'I know,' Draco said softly, 'but he won't hurt you or Rose, I promise. You're scaring the kids, try and enjoy the game.'

Hermione nodded, her whole body feeling stiff and tense. She turned back to the game and rather than enjoy it she pushed her way through it, never letting go of Draco's hand. Luckily for Hermione the game wasn't very long because England completely dominated it and won which sent the entire stadium, and particularly the Ministers box, into a frenzy. Hermione smiled weakly, not able to join in and felt her hands begin to sweat as both teams made their way up to this very box to shake Neville's hand.

Draco knew why Hermione was panicking and didn't say anything, he just held onto her hand tighter. As Hermione watched the American team make their way up to the box she felt sick, she had barely even been able to take in the game. She had no idea about the scores, she probably looked pale like she was about to pass out, no wonder Draco and Ginny kept shooting anxious looks her way.

The losing team, which was America, entered the box first and as they walked along, each shaking Neville's hand Hermione grew more and more anxious. When all three chasers and both beaters were done it was Ron's turn and Hermione literally couldn't breathe as she looked at him. His hair was a little longer, and he had more muscles, like he'd been playing professional Quidditch for a long time but other than that he looked exactly the same as he had the last time Hermione had seen him as he smiled at Neville and shook his hand.

They exchanged words briefly and Hermione thought that Ron might leave without seeing her until he turned and looked up the box as he walked out. His eyes widened when he saw Hermione and then he frowned when he realised she was sitting next to Draco Malfoy, and holding his hand. Hermione stared at him, refusing to break eye contact but if she did she felt like somehow he would win. After what felt like a very long time Ron looked away and left the box.

After that Hermione didn't have time to think about him because Harry was here and they were all congratulating him on how well he had played, and the fact England had won. And then they were leaving together, singing songs and laughing as they made their way back to the campsite.

It was only when they reached their tents and separated to get changed and clean up that Hermione finally had time to collapse in the bench in the 'garden' outside of her tent and curl up to Draco who soothed her by stroking her hair and saying that everything would be okay. Hermione felt sore everywhere, like she was recovering from a really bad cold. Not breaking down had been such an effort and she was paying for it now.

* * *

'Hermione?'

She had expected it. After all, if she _hadn't _expected it why was she sitting out here in the open alone on this bench?

'Hey,' Hermione said simply because what else did you say to the man who left you alone with a young child then didn't so much as write?

Ron opened his mouth to say something, but Hermione didn't find out what it was because Draco chose that moment to emerge from the tent.

'Hey have you seen Cassie's blanket, she-' Draco cut himself off when he saw Ron.

'So you're together?' Ron asked, his nose wrinkled at the thought.

'Married,' Hermione said, holding up her ring finger where her engagement and wedding rings sparkled.

Ron shook his head in disbelief, 'You married him?'

'Sorry Ronald, I thought we lived in a world where women were free to marry whoever they wanted,' Hermione said coolly, 'especially if they're divorced.'

'I-'

'You divorced me Ron,' Hermione said simply, 'I didn't do anything to cause it, you cheated on me and you divorced me. Then you left and never even bothered to write so I don't know why you're here or what you expect to get out of this little chat, but I think you should leave.'

Ron opened his mouth again to speak, but again he was interrupted by someone coming out of the tent.

'Dad! Scorpius is saying he's gonna put the mouse he found today in my bed tonight!' Rose exclaimed.

Ron's eyes widened and Draco calmly said, 'He won't Rose, I set it free 5 minutes ago.'

Rose smirked and ran back into the tent, shouting, 'I knew you were lying Scorpius! Dad set the mouse free!'

'Dad?' Ron asked angrily.

'Sorry Ron, you've been out of her life for 7 years,' Hermione hissed, 'I moved on, and so did Rose. She doesn't know you, she doesn't even remember you. Draco raised her.'

'She's still my daughter,' Ron said.

'Is she?' Hermione asked, pushing herself to her feet, 'because the only connection you have to her is blood. You were _never _around when she was little and you left when she was still a toddler!'

Ron was silent for a moment and then yet another person walked out of the tent.

'Mummy, Daddy, I'm sleepy,' Cassie said, yawning and rubbing her eyes.

'Okay sweetheart, Daddy will take you to bed,' Hermione said, kissing her daughter on the cheek.

'Mummy, that man looks like Aunt Ginny!' Cassie exclaimed as she pointed at Ron.

Even Ron had to smile a little at this, Hermione chuckled and said, 'That's because he's her brother sweetheart.'

'Oh,' Cassie said, Draco smiled and picked his daughter up, 'come on sleepy head, it's time for bed,' he said as he retreated into the tent.

'I'm sorry that I left,' Ron admitted.

'Well that's all fine and well but it doesn't change the fact that you did,' Hermione said quietly.

'I know,' Ron said as he sat down next to her on the bench, 'I never expected to come back. I mean, I was pretty sure you would have moved on, but I never thought I'd have to witness it.'

'So why did you come back?' Hermione asked, 'you could have turned this match down.'

'I could have,' Ron agreed, 'but I needed to see you and Rose. I just wanted to know you were okay, and that you were happy.'

'We are,' Hermione said honestly, 'Rose and Scorpius are like siblings, and as you saw she has a little sister now too.'

'Yeah?' Ron asked, frowning slightly, 'what's she called?'

'Cassie,' Hermione answered.

'And Malfoy's a good Father?' Ron asked.

'He's a great Father,' Hermione said, still in a very quiet tone of voice, 'and a great husband.'

'So when did you get married?'

'When Rose was 6,' Hermione answered, 'about 5 years ago now.'

'You're still friends with Harry? And my family?'

'Yeah, Ginny was my bridesmaid and Harry was Draco's best man at the wedding,' Hermione admitted, and Ron swallowed but nodded.

'I suppose you want to know why I left, right?' Ron asked keeping his eyes on the ground.

'To be with the woman you were having an affair with,' Hermione said, as if this were obvious.

'It wasn't just an affair,' Ron said with a frown, 'it was more than that. We're married now.'

'Oh,' Hermione said, surprised by this little piece of news, 'that's good.'

'She's called Laura,' Ron added with a smile, 'she's a Muggle.'

'I never thought you'd marry a Muggle,' Hermione commented thoughtfully.

'Neither did I,' Ron said honestly, 'but then again I never thought you'd marry a pureblood and not Draco Malfoy at that.'

'Neither did I,' Hermione echoed, 'but you can't control these things, can you?'

Ron shook his head, 'I have two sons in America…David and Jason,' he said with a frown.

'Did you ever think about her?' Hermione asked, referring to Rose of course.

'Yeah,' Ron said, 'I did. I just never felt like I had the right to be a part of her life. I was cheating on you from the moment she was born, every time I looked at her I felt guilty.'

'Is that why you didn't write?' Hermione asked.

'I guess…I didn't think anyone would want anything to do with me when they knew what I had done to you,' Ron admitted.

'Your own family Ron, they worried, they missed you,' Hermione said, 'you could have at least written to them, or sent birthday cards.'

'I know I've made mistakes Hermione, trust me, I'm well aware of them,' Ron said with a sigh, 'I guess I'm trying to say I'm sorry.'

'I accept your apology,' Hermione admitted, 'and I'm glad you're happy.'

'I feel the same,' Ron said as he got to his feet, 'I think its best for Rose if I leave.'

'You can meet her, and know her, if you want,' Hermione said tentatively, 'but you have to promise you won't leave again.'

'I can't do that,' Ron said quietly, 'I leave tonight, for America. I just wanted to speak to my family first, and say sorry to you.'

'Okay,' Hermione said, wondering how he could leave his daughter all over again.

'I wrote this for her,' Ron said as he pulled a letter from his robes, 'give it to her when she's old enough to understand, yeah?'

'I will,' Hermione promised as Ron walked down the path.

'Bye Hermione,' He said as he walked towards the Potters tent.

'Goodbye Ron,' Hermione said, still frowning and feeling incredibly confused, she made her way back into her tent where she knew she would have to explain to Draco all that had just happened outside.

**TBC :)  
**

**A/N: Next chapter will be the last :O Sorry that this story is quite short, I never intended for it to be a massively long one. I'm quite glad it's getting close to done because it gives me more time to focus on other projects.**

**Thanks for reading!**

**Holly**


	20. All Was Well

**The War is Over**

**Chapter 20 - All Was Well**

'Everything okay?'

Cassie was in bed, and Rose and Scorpius were upstairs. It was clear Draco had been waiting in the kitchen for her to come back in.

'Don't try and pretend like you weren't eavesdropping on the whole thing,' Hermione said with a raised eyebrow.

'I didn't eavesdrop on the whole thing, just the latter part. I was taking Cassie to bed, remember?' Draco said cheekily as he sat down at a bar stool, 'so how do you feel?'

'Kind of like I have closure,' Hermione said honestly.

'Well that's good then, isn't it?' Draco asked, surveying his wife carefully.

'I guess,' Hermione said thoughtfully, 'I mean it reiterated what I already know.'

'And what's that?'

'That I'm much happier now than I ever was back then,' Hermione said with a soft smile, 'that Rose is happier now than she was then.'

'Does he want to be involved in her life?' Draco asked quietly.

Hermione shook her head, 'He has his own family in America, he's going back to them tonight.'

'I still don't understand that,' Draco said, shaking his head in disbelief.

'I think I finally do,' Hermione said honestly, 'I never quite knew how long he was cheating on me for, but it was from just after Rose was born. When he looked at her he felt guilty.'

'So what did he come here for?' Draco asked with a frown, 'if that's how he feels about Rose.'

'He came to apologise,' Hermione said, 'and I'm glad he did.'

'Do you think we'll be seeing him again?' Draco asked as he watched the door of the tent curiously.

'I highly doubt it,' Hermione said with a smile, 'he's going back to his life and I'm going back to mine.'

'Good,' Draco said, kissing Hermione lightly on the lips, 'I'm glad you two sorted things out.'

'Yeah,' Hermione said, 'yeah, so am I.'

* * *

'Draco, I'm back!' Hermione shouted the moment she had walked out of the fireplace.

He rushed into the sitting room immediately, 'What happened?' he asked.

Hermione sat down and chewed her lip, 'You're not going to like it,' she admitted.

'Go on,' Draco said, looking worried.

'Well…they were both sorted into Hufflepuff…' Hermione said, watching Draco's face for a reaction.

'Huff…Hufflepuff?' He choked out, 'I…I…well I…I can learn to cope with that.'

Hermione grinned, laughing loudly and causing Draco to glare at her as he realised what she had just done, 'Okay, I get it. You're playing with me,' he said as he rolled his eyes.

'I'm sorry,' Hermione said through her laughter, 'I just couldn't resist and your face…oh my god your face was so funny. If you could have seen it,' she laughed some more.

Draco shook his head in amusement at how much of a joker Hermione could be at times, 'So are you planning on telling me what actually happened?' he asked, he was now the one raising his eyebrow at her.

Hermione smiled, she had just come from the sorting ceremony. It was one of the perks of being a teacher at Hogwarts, she actually got to see her children getting sorted. Draco had been panicking about it all day of course, ever since they said goodbye to Rose and Scorpius at 11am and put them on the train. His worst fear was of them both becoming Hufflepuff's or of Scorpius becoming a Gryffindor.

'You do realise if they both became Gryffindors and you tell me that now, I'm going to think you're lying,' Draco said, still amused, 'didn't your parents tell you not to cry wolf?'

'Alright,' Hermione said with a smile, 'I'll tell you what actually happened…'

'Get on with it woman,' Draco said, glaring at his wife.

'They were both sorted into the same house,' Hermione said honestly, 'that much is true, it just wasn't Hufflepuff.'

'What house?' Draco asked eagerly.

'Slytherin,' Hermione admitted sheepishly.

'Slytherin?' Draco asked with a grin, 'both of them?'

'And it gets better,' Hermione admitted, smirking a little at her husband, 'Albus Severus Potter…was sorted into the same house as his namesake, only it was his middle name…'

'Hah!' Draco said, laughing loudly, 'Al's in Slytherin too?'

Hermione nodded, still chuckling at the events of the night, 'does Potter know?'

'Not yet,' Hermione replied, 'but I'm pretty sure he saw it coming. Let's face it, those three are more like Slytherins than anything else.'

'Admit it, you were hoping Rose would be a Gryffindor,' Draco said with a grin.

'Or a Ravenclaw at least,' Hermione said as she rolled her eyes, 'but a Slytherin,' she shook her head in disbelief.

'She clearly takes after me,' Draco said, it was meant as a joke but it sparked something inside Hermione.

'In all seriousness Draco I'm sort of glad she's in Slytherin,' Hermione said, meeting her Husband's eye, 'it means she's got more of the man who raised her in her than the man who created her.'

'That's very philosophical,' Draco said as he kissed his wife lightly on the lips, 'but don't worry, I understand.'

'Have I ever thanked you?' Hermione asked with a frown, 'for all you've done for us?'

'You thanked me when you married me Hermione,' Draco said sincerely, kissing her again.

Hermione smiled, surveying Draco with amusement. He was being sincere but he was also smirking somewhat evilly, 'go on,' she said.

'What?' he asked innocently.

'I know you want to tell Harry about Al, and I know you know he's on nightshift tonight, so go on,' Hermione said, reading Draco's mind.

'You're great,' Draco said with a grin as he jumped up and kissed her once more before rushing to the fireplace.

* * *

'Hey Harry.'

'Draco, what are you doing in my office at this time of night?'

'What date is it?' Draco asked with a smirk as he sat down in the chair across from Harry's desk.

'The 1st of September…' Harry said, frowning slightly until it dawned on him, 'you know what house Al was sorted into?'

'I might,' Draco said cryptically.

'You know, of course you do, Hermione told you,' Harry said with narrowed eyes.

'I do know what house your son was sorted into,' Draco confirmed.

'And may I ask why you look so smug about it?' Harry asked, his eyes widening as he realised the _only _reason Draco would be smug about his sons sorting.

'Well he was sorted for his namesake, his middle name that is,' Draco said with a grin.

'Slytherin?'

'Yep,' Draco said with a grin, 'along with Rose and Scorp.'

'Well I can't say I'm surprised,' Harry said with a chuckle, 'you've been corrupting my son ever since you married Hermione.'

'It wasn't intentional,' Draco said with a smirk, 'but I must say I am amused that a Potter has become a Slytherin.'

'Technically so has a Weasley,' Harry said, shaking his head in disbelief, 'I think it's good that Ron isn't involved in Rose's life. He wouldn't be able to deal with that.'

'Now that Hermione knows his address I'm kind of tempted to write,' Draco admitted with a grin that made Harry laugh.

All joking aside, life was good. The kids were in the same house, they were still friends, and life was good.

All was well.

**The End **

_**A/N – Ah, so it's done :D Hope you all enjoyed it and thanks for reading! I'm moving on to 'Eyes Open' and 'A Game of Hunger' now so I get those two finished and I've also got a Harry/Hermione one called 'Skeletons' in the mix. **_

_**Anyway, thanks again for reading guys! :D**_

_**Holly **_


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